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UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 
UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM 




VOL-  X 

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BABYLONIAN  SECTION 

NO.  1 


'V-'W. 

SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE,  THE 
FLOOD  AND  THE  FALL  OF  MAN 


BY 


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STEPHEN  LANGDON 


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PUBLISHED 


PHILADELPHIA 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM 

1915 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
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https://archive.org/details/sumerianepicofpaOOIang 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 
THE  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM 
PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  BABYLONIAN  SECTION 

Vol.  X No.  1 


SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE,  THE  FLOOD 
AND  THE  FALL  OF  MAN 


BY 

STEPHEN  LANGDON 


PHILADELPHIA 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM 

1915 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 5 

Synopsis 6 

Dilmun 8 

The  End  of  Paradise 13 

The  Poem  on  the  Creation  and  the  Flood 14 

The  References  to  the  Creation  of  Man 16 

Marduk  Associated  with  Aruru  22 

Her  Connection  with  the  Story  of  the  Decapi- 
tation of  Marduk 23 

The  Eridu  Tradition 26 

Relation  of  the  Two  Sumerian  Poems  to  these 
Traditions 27 

The  Greek  Tradition  Concerning  Prometheus..  29 
The  Egyptian  View 34 

The  Biblical  Form  of  the  Assistance  of  the 
Mother  Goddess 35 

The  Eridu  Version  of  the  F'all  of  Man 38 

The  Nippurian  Version  of  the  Fall  of  Man  on 

the  Tablet  in  the  University  Museum 49 

The  Hebrew  Tradition 56 

(3) 


4 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The  Babylonian  Tradition  Concerning  the  Pre- 

diluvian  Period 62 

The  Meaning  of  the  Name  Tagtug 66 

TRANSLITERATION  AND  TRANSLATION 69 

Note  on  Obverse  III,  II 85 

FRAGMENT  OF  A LEGEND  CONCERNING  Zl- 

UD-SUD-DU,  HERO  OF  THE  FLOOD 88 

DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATES 91 

INDEX 92 

ABBREVIATIONS 98 

AUTOGRAPH  PLATES i-iva 

PHOTOGRAPHIC  PLATES v-vi 


THE  SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE,  THE 
FLOOD  AND  THE  FALL  OF  MAN 

INTRODUCTION 

In  the  autumn  of  1912  the  author  copied,  among  about 
fifty  others,  a triangular  fragment  of  a tablet  in  the  Nippur 
collection  in  the  Museum.  This  fragment,  which  had  been 
numbered  4561,  can  be  distinguished  clearly  in  the  right  upper 
corner  of  the  obverse  and  right  lower  corner  of  the  reverse 
of  the  restored  tablet  shown  in  Plates  V and  VI  which  show 
the  tablet  in  its  natural  size.  The  contents  of  this  fragment 
were  first  mentioned  by  my  colleague,  Professor  Sayce,  at 
the  June  meeting  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology  in  Lon- 
don, at  which  our  lamented  friend,  Professor  R.  F.  Harper, 
was  present  and  contributed  memorable  remarks.1  An  epit- 
ome soon  afterwards  appeared  in  the  London  Times.  Later 
the  Museum  authorities  found  other  portions  of  this  remark- 
able text  which  obviously  contains  a Sumerian  version  of  the 
Flood  and  the  Fall  of  Man,  antedating  by  at  least  a thousand 
years  the  version  in  Hebrew.  The  photograph  will  show  how 
well  the  Museum  authorities  have  succeeded.  To  my  original 
fragment  they  have  added  one  large  fragment  and  one  small 
one  which  practically  restores  this  large  six  column  tablet. 
This  edition  has  been  made  from  my  copy  of  the  original  frag- 
ment and  photographs  of  the  later  joins. 

The  composition  is  of  an  epical  nature  and  probably  repre- 
sents more  nearly  than  any  production  yet  discovered  the 


‘The  author  published  an  account  of  this  fragment  in  the  June  number  of  PSBA.  1913. 

(5) 


6 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


national  epic  of  the  religious  and  cultured  Sumerian  people. 
The  theme  is  too  humanitarian  and  universal  to  he  called 
national,  hut  in  those  days,  and  in  that  part  of  the  world,  Sume- 
rian culture  was  synonymous  with  world  culture  and  her  great 
religious  traditions  became  universal  traditions,  adopted  by  the 
Semitic  peoples  who  subsequently  came  upon  the  scene  of 
history.  The  colophon  describes  the  composition  as  a “hymn  of 
praise.’’1 


Synopsis 

The  theme  which  inspired  this  epic  is  the  Fall  of  Man,  and 
it  will  be  generally  admitted  that  this  theme  suggests  the  most 
profound  ideas  and  inspires  the  deepest  emotions  of  man. 
Enki  the  water  god  and  his  consort  Ninella  or  Damkina  ruled 
over  mankind  in  paradise,  which  the  epic  places  in  Dilmun. 
In  that  land  there  was  no  infirmity,  no  sin  and  man  grew 
not  old.  No  beasts  of  prey  disturbed  the  flocks,  and  storms 
raged  not.  In  a long  address  to  her  consort,  Ninella  glorifies 
the  land  of  Dilmun,  praising  its  peace  and  bliss.  And  all 
things  were  so. 

But  for  some  reason  which  is  all  too  briefly  defined  Enki 
the  god  of  wisdom  became  dissatisfied  with  man  and  decided  to 
overwhelm  him  with  his  waters.  This  plan  he  revealed  to 
Nintud  the  earth  mother  goddess,  who  with  the  help  of  Enlil 
the  earth  god  had  created  man.  According  to  Col.  1 1 32  Nintud 
under  the  title  Ninharsag  assisted  in  the  destruction  of  humanity. 
For  nine  months  the  tlood  endured  and  man  dissolved  in  the 
waters  like  tallow  and  fat.  But  Nintud  had  planned  to  save 

1 {ag-sal  For  a similar  composition  see  BE.  XXXI  14-18,  a hymn  to  Dungi.  Connected 
with  this  liturgical  note  is  the  use  of  the  verb  iag-sal  at  the  end  of  cylinders  A,  B of  Gudea; 
see  SAK.  122;  140. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


7 


the  king  and  certain  pious  ones.  These  she  summoned  to  the 
river’s  bank  where  they  embarked  in  a boat.  After  the  flood 
Nintud  is  represented  in  conversation  with  the  hero  who  had 
escaped.  He  is  here  called  Tagtug  and  dignified  by  the  title  of 
a god.  He  becomes  a gardener  for  whom  Nintud  intercedes 
with  Enki  and  explains  to  this  god  how  Tagtug  escaped  his  plan 
of  universal  destruction.  This  at  any  rate  is  the  natural  inference 
to  be  made  from  the  broken  passage  at  the  end  of  Col.  1 1 1 of 
the  obverse  and  the  beginning  of  Col.  I of  the  reverse.  Enki 
became  reconciled  with  the  gardener,  called  him  to  his  temple 
and  revealed  to  him  secrets.  After  a break  we  find  Tagtug 
instructed  in  regard  to  plants  and  trees  whose  fruit  the  gods 
permitted  him  to  eat.  But  it  seems  that  Nintud  had  forbidden 
him  to  eat  of  the  cassia.  Of  this  he  took  and  ate,  whereupon 
Ninharsag  afflicted  him  with  bodily  weakness.  Life,  that  is 
good  health  in  the  Babylonian  idiom,  he  should  no  longer  see. 
He  loses  the  longevity  of  the  prediluvian  age. 

Such  in  the  Sumerian  epic  is  the  conception  of  the  fall  of 
man.  His  great  loss  consists  in  being  deprived  of  extreme 
longevity  and  good  health.  The  fall  from  primeval  sinlessness 
is  not  mentioned  here.  But  we  infer  from  column  two  that  sin 
had  already  entered  into  the  souls  of  men  before  the  food  and 
caused  Enki  to  send  that  great  catastrophe.  In  a real  sense, 
therefore,  our  epic  contains  both  the  fall  from  purity  and 
the  fall  from  longevity.  The  latter  is  brought  about  by 
eating  of  the  tree,  and  this  was  considered  the  greater  disaster. 
We  now  find  that  man  is  fallen  on  toil  and  disease.  Where- 
fore the  gods  send  him  patrons  of  healing,  of  plants,  and 
various  arts  to  comfort  him  and  aid  him  in  his  struggle  for 
existence. 


8 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


Dilmun 

Tablet  No.  4 s6 1 locates  Paradise  in  Dilmun  and  apparently 
Tagtug  the  gardener  dwelled  here  after  the  flood.  Also  the 
epical  fragment  of  Creation  and  the  Flood  published  by  Dr. 
Poebel  says  that  Ziudgiddu,  the  king  who  survived  the  deluge, 
received  eternal  life  and  lived  in  the  mountain  of  Dilmun.1 
This  land  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  of  all 
periods  as  an  important  province  in  the  extreme  south  of  Baby- 
lonia. Sargon  the  ancient  speaks  of  Dilmun  in  connection  with 
the  Sea  Land,2  after  which  he  turned  his  attention  to  Der  a city 
in  Ashnunnak  on  the  Elamitic  border. 

Magan  (Arabia),  Meluhha  (Egypt),  Gubi  and  the  mountain 
of  Dilmun  are  mentioned  together  by  Gudea,3  and  the  boats 
of  Dilmun,  Magan  and  Meluhha  occur  together  in  a lexico- 
graphical list.4  The  copper  of  Dilmun,  Magan  and  Meluhha 
is  mentioned  in  another  text.5  Geographical  lists  also  con- 
nect Eridu  and  Dilmun,6  a fact  of  special  interest,  since  Eridu, 
on  the  Euphrates  near  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  is  the  most 
famous  center  of  the  cult  of  Enki  the  water  god.  Our  text 
affords  abundant  proof  that  Enki  was  also  connected  with  the 
religious  traditions  of  Dilmun.  Nebo,  the  city  god  of  Barsippa 
and  also  connected  with  the  Enki  water  cult,  has  at  least  eleven 
Sumerian  titles  as  a god  in  Dilmun,  whence  we  may  suppose  that 

1 The  classical  ideogram  for  Dilmun  is  and  in  the  earliest  known  Sumerian 

passage  it  has  also  this  form,  Gudea,  St.  D IV  10,  as  in  CT.  15,  27,  7 a Sumerian  text  of  the 
Isin  period.  But  IV  Raw.  36  No.  1 Obv.  A 21  has  the  form  and  our  text  has 

£~f and  . No.  4562,  2 (a  text  copied  by  the  author)  has 

2 King.  Chronicles  II  92. 

3 St.  D IV  10. 

*AL3  88  V 5-7.  Note  also  that  Sargon,  the  ancient,  conquers  Dilmun,  Magan  and  Me- 
luhha, CT.  13,  44  B 16. 

5 V Raw.  27A  25-7. 

MIR.  53A  11. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


9 


Barsippa  derived  this  deity  from  Dilmun.1  Also  Zarpanit, 
consort  of  Marduk,  son  of  Enki,  has  seven  Sumerian  titles  as  a 
deity  of  Dilmun.2  Thus  Dilmun  was  associated  with  the  water 
god  in  the  earliest  Sumerian  traditions  and  in  Babylonian  the- 
ology. 

Still  more  noteworthy  is  the  constant  association  of  Dilmun 
with  Elam  and  Ansan.  Zarpanit  of  Dilmun  is  followed  by  the 
Zarpanit  of  Elam  in  a theological  list  of  gods.3  Astrological 
texts  also  reflect  the  ancient  importance  of  Dilmun  and  its 
association  with  Elam,  in  that  eclipses  occurring  in  the  third 
month  (Sivan)  portend  the  ruin  of  the  king  of  Dilmun,  and  those 
occurring  in  the  second  month  (Ajar)  portend  the  ruin  of  the  king 
of  Elam.4 

Delitzsch  many  years  ago  identified  Dilmun  with  the  island 
Bahrein;5  although  that  scholar  does  not  expressly  defend  this 
identification,  yet  this  inference  has  been  accepted  and  generally 
adopted.  The  identification  with  the  largest  of  the  Bahrein 
islands  has  been  suggested  to  scholars  by  passages  in  the 
inscriptions  of  Sargon,  who  in  describing  his  invasion  of  Bit-Jakin 
(the  seacoast  land  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf)  and  Elam 
says,  “ Upiri  king  of  Dilmun,  who  had  made  an  abode  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea  towards  the  East,  like  a fish  a distance  of  30  kasgid 
heard  of  the  might  of  my  royal  power  and  brought  tribute.”6 
If  this  passage  be  taken  literally  we  must  infer  that  an  island  is 
intended,  or  as  Delitzsch  says,  ‘‘at  any  rate  a peninsula.” 
But  we  now  know  that  in  Assyrian  historical  inscriptions  the 

1 CT.  25,  35A  20-30. 

2 Ibid.  12-18. 

3 Ibid.  1.  19. 

4Virolleaud,  Sin,  XXX11I.  See  Jastrow,  Religion,  II  503. 

5 See  Delitzsch,  IVo  Lag  Das  Parodies?,  178. 

6 Winckler,  Sargon,  p.  61  I.  370;  84  I.  20;  cf.  64  I.  381;  126,  144;  150,  55;  180,  23. 


10 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


kasgid  or  hour’s  march  was  5346  meters1  or  3.3218+  English 
miles.  If  we  suppose  that  Sargon  intended  to  state  the  distance 
from  the  innermost  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf  as  it  was  in  his  day, 
that  is  1 5 or  more  miles  further  inland  than  at  present,  we  assume 
that  Dilmun  lay  about  100  miles  from  that  point,  say  a degree 
and  a half  south  of  modern  Basra.  Of  course  Dilmun,  if  it 
designated  a province  on  the  Elamitic  side  of  the  Persian  Gulf 
in  the  region  of  modern  Laristan,  may  have  included  all  the  small 
islands  off  that  coast  such  as  Shaikh  Shuaib,  Kais  and  Kishm. 
All  of  these  are  considerably  more  than  100  miles  from  Basra, 
but  Sargon  may  be  using  some  point  farther  south  as  his  place 
of  reckoning.  Dilmun  cannot  be  an  island  in  another  passage  of 
this  same  Sargon  who  says,  “The  land  Bit-Jakin  which  lies  on 
the  shore  of  the  salt  stream'2  as  far  as  the  boundaries  of  Dilmun 
as  one  land  I ruled.’’3  Here  Dilmun  and  Bit-Jakin  form  a con- 
tiguous territory.  On  the  whole  the  identification  with  a strip 
of  land  from  about  the  twenty-ninth  degree  of  latitude  south- 
ward along  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf  including  the 
islands  off  the  coast  perhaps  as  far  as  the  strait  of  Ormuz  and  the 
Arabian  Sea  will  satisfy  all  the  known  references  concerning 
Dilmun.  The  expression  of  Sargon,  “in  the  midst  of  the  sea,’’ 
will  then  refer  to  one  of  the  small  islands  of  the  province  to  which 
the  king  Upiri  fled. 

This  location  of  the  Sumerian  Paradise  will  explain  also 
the  curious  geographical  boundary  given  in  the  Hebrew  tradition 
concerning  the  Garden  of  Eden.  In  Chapter  1 1 10-14  of  Genesis 
the  Hebrew  preserves  a geographical  description  which  is  ob- 


1 So  F Thureau-Dangin  in  a letter  to  the  author  who  bases  his  calculations  upon  the 
length  of  the  side  of  the  stage  tower  in  Babylon,  91  m.  (not  too  as  Weissbach  gave)  which 
results  in  5346  m.,  not  6014  m.  as  previously  calculated. 

2 1 . e.,  the  Persian  Gulf,  naru  marratu. 

3Winckler,  ibid.,  84  I.  25;  cf.  138,  19  and  below  15;  144,  19;  152,  86;  160,  26. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE  I I 

viously  derived  from  Sumero-Babylonian  cosmology  and  can 
be  understood  only  by  comparing  the  description  with  a Baby- 
lonian map  of  the  world  as  they  understood  it.  Fortunately  such 
a map  for  early  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  cosmology  exists.1 
Here  Babylon  is  the  center  of  a flat  circular  surface,  with  the  land 
of  Assur  located  to  the  right.  On  the  upper  edge  the  draughts- 
man indicates  mountains,  probably  the  highlands  of  Armenia. 
In  the  right  lower  corner  is  the  city  Dir  and  at  the  left  bottom 
Bit-Ja’kinu  or  the  seacoast  lands.  Beyond  this  to  the  south 
appear  canals  (e-ku)  and  marshes  ( apparu ).  In  the  upper  left 
corner,  i.  e.,  in  the  northwest,  the  scribe  places  the  Hittites 
( ha-at-tim ).  Around  this  circular  world  flows  the  ndru  mar- 
ra-tum,  the  bitter  river,  which  is  the  Babylonian  name  for  the 
Persian  Gulf.  Beyond  this  stream  lie  at  least  five  regions  or 
countries  of  whose  existence  the  geographers  had  a vague 
monition. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  ancient  Sumerians  held  the  same 
conceptions  in  regard  to  Paradise.  Around  it  flowed  the  “ Bitter 
Stream,”  or  the  Persian  Gulf,  upon  whose  eastern  bank  tradition 
located  Paradise  in  the  land  of  Dilmun.  Into  this  stream  on  the 
north  flow  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  In  the  far  southeast  the 
Indus  flows  into  the  Arabian  Sea,  which  the  Sumerians  probably 
regarded  as  a continuation  of  the  world  encircling  bitter  stream 
and  in  the  far  southwest  flows  the  Nile  from  Ethiopia  into  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  in  which  they  saw  the  western  segment  of 
the  same  bitter  stream.  Now  all  this  agrees  admirably  with  the 
Biblical  account.  “And  a river  issued  from  Eden  to  water  the 
garden  and  thence  it  divided  itself  and  became  four  branches.” 
This  river  issuing  forth  from  Eden  is  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the 

■Published  by  R.  C.  Thompson,  CT.  XXII  48.  This  tablet  probably  belongs  to  the 
period  of  the  first  Babylonian  dynasty. 


12 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


encircling  bitter  stream  as  Sayce  first  saw.1  In  Hebrew  and 
Assyrian  idiom  res  nari,  EftH  “head  of  a stream,”  or  “head,” 
when  applied  to  streams  means  the  mouth  of  the  river,  as  De- 
litzsch  Paradise  has  long  since  emphasized.  The  four  branches 
are  rivers  which  How  into  the  stream  which  constantly  encircles 
Paradise.  “The  name  of  the  first  is  Pishon;  this  is  the  one 
that  surrounds  all  the  land  of  Havilah  where  there  is  gold.” 
The  Pishon  1 would  identify  with  the  Indus  which  would  lead 
us  to  assume  that  Havilah  here  indicates  India  or  in  a vague 
manner  the  far  east.  “And  the  name  of  the  second  river  is 
Gihon;  this  is  the  one  that  surrounds  all  the  land  of  Ethiopia.” 
Jewish  and  Christian  tradition  identified  this  river  with  the  Nile 
and  the  identification  follows  both  from  the  connection  with 
Ethiopia  and  from  Babylonian  cosmology.  “And  the  name  of 
the  third  river  is  Hiddekel,2  which  is  the  one  flowing  before 
Assur.”  The  city  Assur,  which  lay  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Tigris  below  the  greater  Zab,  appears  to  have  been  unknown  to 
Sumerian  rulers  as  late  as  the  era  of  Dungi  ( circa  2400  B.C.). 
The  city  itself  was  a Mitanni  or  Hittite  foundation  and  not 
until  shortly  before  Sumuabu,  founder  of  the  first  Babylonian 
dynasty  ( circa  2232-2218  B.C.),  do  we  hear  of  Semitic  rulers  at 
Assur.  But  cities  in  northern  Mesopotamia  such  as  Assur  and 
Karkemish  according  to  recent  excavations  at  low  levels  on  those 
sites  are  shown  to  be  extremely  old,  perhaps  even  older  than  the 
more  famous  cities  of  Sumer  which  surpassed  them  in  culture 
and  fame.  In  any  case  we  cannot  suppose  that  Assur  was 
unknown  to  the  early  Sumerians  at  least  in  a vague  way  and 
consequently  the  mention  of  Assur  here  does  not  imply  that  the 
source  Gen.  II  10-14  is  of  later  origin  than  the  other  portions 


1 See  Sayce,  Higher  Criticism  and  the  Verdict  o]  the  Monuments,  95  ft. 
1 /.  e , the  Tigris. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE  I 3 

of  the  Hebrew  story  of  Creation,  Paradise  and  the  Fall  of  Man 
in  Gen.  1 1 4-1 1 1 24.  Genesis  II  14  states  finally  that  the  fourth 
branch  of  the  encircling  stream  is  the  Euphrates.  The  Biblical 
statement  is,  therefore,  perfectly  intelligible  when  the  passage 
has  been  interpreted  on  the  basis  of  Babylonian  cosmology. 

The  End  of  Paradise 

Our  poem  omits  the  primitive  history  of  the  Creation  and 
prediluvian  kings,  for  its  motive  is  to  describe  the  Fall  of  Man. 
It  begins,  therefore,  with  a description  of  the  blissful  state  of 
man  as  it  existed  immediately  before  the  Flood.  In  all  the  land 
of  Sumer  men  and  animals  dwelled  together  in  peace;  sin  and 
disease  had  not  yet  afflicted  humanity.  And  in  this  land  lay 
an  especially  favored  garden  in  Dilmun.  Dilmun  has  two  desig- 
nations which  are  indicated  by  two  ways  of  writing  the  name, 
dilmun-ki,  “the  city  of  Dilmun,’’1  and  kur-dilmun,  “the  mountain 
of  Dilmun,’’  or  more  accurately  “the  Dilmunian  mountain.’’ 
This  is  the  method  employed  in  our  tablet  and  in  Poebel,  Cr. 
VI  12.  Ordinarily,  however,  kur-dilmun-ki  is  employed  for  “the 
mountain  of  Dilmun.’’2  According  to  Sumerian  grammar  kur 
prefixed  to  a name  indicates  the  land  of  which  the  city  in  question 
is  the  capital.  Strictly  speaking  we  should  render  kur-dilmun 
by  the  “Land  or  Province  of  Dilmun.”  But  kur  means  both 
mountain  and  land.  In  case  of  those  provinces  which  were 
mountainous  the  Sumerians  and  Babylonians  spoke  of  it  as  the 
“Mountain  of  X,”  and  not  the  “Land  of  X.”  An  interlinear 
text  has  pu  kur-dilmun-ki-ka  = ina  bur-ti  sa-di-i  dil-mun,  “At 
the  well  of  the  Mountain  of  Dilmun  (Ishtar  washed  her  head).”3 


1 For  the  original  use  of  ki  to  designate  only  a city,  see  Sum.  Gr.  p.  58. 

2 Gudea,  St.  D IV  10. 

3 ASKT.  127,  37. 


•4 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


The  reader  will,  therefore,  understand  that  dilmun-ki  means 
the  city,  kiir  dilmun,  the  province  or  land  which  is  here  rendered 
by  “Mountain  of  Dilmun.’’ 

Since  after  the  Flood  the  king  Tagtug  becomes  a gardener 
and  a garden  is  expressly  mentioned,1  and  since  after  the  curse 
Dilmun  is  mentioned  as  under  the  protection  of  one  of  the 
patron  genii,  we  infer  that  the  Sumerians  regarded  the  Land  of 
Dilmun  as  the  garden  of  Paradise  and  the  religious  center  of 
Sumer.  Of  its  city  Dilmun,  where  Enki  the  water  god  ruled 
mankind  and  in  whose  temple  he  revealed  secrets  to  Tagtug,  our 
epic  says,  “ His  city  was  the  home  which  assembles  the  Land  (of 
Sumer).’’  Sumer  or  the  land  of  the  Sumerians  is  related  to  the 
land  of  Dilmun  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  Hebrew  jlV-  |L  “A 
garden  in  Eden,’’2  Eden3  or  the  plain  of  southern  Mesopo- 
tamia is  related  to  the  garden. 

According  to  the  Hebrew  version  the  first  of  mankind  Adam 
and  his  consort  forfeited  the  blessings  of  Paradise  almost  im- 
mediately after  the  Creation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Sumerian 
version  allows  us  to  infer  that  mankind  enjoyed  this  blissful 
state  until  the  Elood.  In  the  days  of  one  Tagtug  who  is  men- 
tioned as  a king,  and  probably  the  king  of  Dilmun,  man  became 
sinful  and  so  Enki4  ended  the  Utopian  age  with  the  Deluge. 

The  Poem  on  the  Creation  and  the  Flood 

A poem  on  the  Creation  and  the  Elood,  likewise  in  six 
columns  and  in  the  same  script  as  the  one  under  discussion 
and  also  found  in  the  Museum  collections  (No.  10674),  belongs 

1 Rev.  I 27. 

2 Gen.  1 1 8. 

3 Eden  in  Sumerian  does  not  mean  a barren  plain  but  a wide  stretch  of  flat  land  and  more 
often  refers  to  meadow  lands. 

4 Enki  is  the  Oannes  of  Berossus.  He  appears  in  religious  texts  most  frequently  under  the 
title  E-a,  or  god  of  the  water-house,  a name  which  is  preserved  by  Damascius  as  Aos  ( Aos)- 


STEPHEN  LANGDON SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


15 


to  the  same  cycle  of  epical  literature  concerning  the  origin  and 
fall  of  man.  This  composition,  which  has  been  published  by 
Dr.  Poebel  in  Vols.  IV  and  V,  is  unfortunately  much  more 
fragmentary  than  the  text  of  No.  4561.  The  styles  of  the 
two  poems  are  strikingly  similar.  The  tablet  previously 
published  is  devoted  entirely,  so  far  as  the  fragment  permits 
us  to  infer,  to  the  period  from  the  Creation  to  and  including 
the  Flood.  It  appears  to  have  described  somewhat  minutely 
the  creation  of  man  and  the  political  affairs  of  Sumer  before  the 
Flood.  Also  the  Flood  is  minutely  described,  but  the  portion 
of  the  fragment  which  gave  the  reason  why  Enki  destroyed 
mankind  is  not  preserved.  At  the  end  we  learn  that  the  gods 
caused  the  king  Ziudsuddu,  who  escaped,  to  dwell  in  Dilmun. 
Evidently  the  postdiluvian  history  of  man  did  not  form  part  of 
the  theme  of  this  epic  as  it  does  in  our  own.  Moreover,  it  agrees 
with  the  Semitic  Babylonian  account  in  two  vital  matters.  The 
name  of  the  royal  hero  of  the  Flood,  Zi-ud-sud-du,1  is  obviously 
identical  with  Zi-ud,  the  Sumerian  original  of  Uta-napishtim, 
Semitic  name  of  this  hero  in  the  eleventh  book  of  the  Epic  of 
Gilgamish,  where  the  Semitic  Babylonian  version  is  given  at 
great  length.  The  element  suddu,  which  means  “ to  be  long,  ” had 
been  omitted  before  the  name  was  translated  into  Semitic.  And 
like  the  Semitic  Babylonian  version  this  hero  is  transferred  to 
the  island  of  the  blessed.  For  in  Poebel’s  tablet  we  must  assume 
that  Dilmun  still  retains  after  the  Flood  its  ancient  character 
of  a land  of  the  blessed.  Sumerian  tradition  probably  rehearsed 
the  story  of  this  hero’s  translation  to  one  of  the  islands  off  the 
coast  of  Dilmun  the  ancient  land  of  Paradise.  And  the  Semitic 


1 In  this  name  we  have  an  excellent  example  of  the  Sumerian  method  of  forming  compounds 
by  placing  the  construct  after  the  genitive.  Zi-ud  = ud-\i,  “breath  of  life,”  is  rendered  into 
Semitic  by  the  only  construction  possible  in  Semitic,  viz.  construct  and  genitive.  The  full 
translation  should  be  Uta-napishti-arik,  "Long  is  the  breath  of  life.”  See  PSBA  1914,  190. 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


l6 

version  says  that  Utanapishtim  was  made  like  the  gods  and  taken 
by  them  to  a far-away  place  at  the  mouth  of  rivers.  This 
probably  refers  to  Dilmun,  the  traditional  Paradise  into  whose 
encircling  stream  poured  the  four  great  rivers  of  the  primitive 
cosmos.  This  tradition  of  the  translation  of  the  hero  of  the 
Flood  to  the  blessed  isle  must  have  been  widely  spread  among 
ancient  peoples  and  it  is  curious  that  it  has  not  survived  in 
Hebrew  tradition.1  Berossus,  as  reported  by  Polyhistor,  says 
that  this  hero,  whom  he  calls  Xisuthrus,  disappeared  in  the  air 
and  was  seen  no  more,  and  Abydenus  reports  Berossus  to  have 
written  that  “The  gods  translated  him  from  among  men.” 

The  References  to  the  Creation  of  Man 

As  we  have  seen,  our  poem  refers  to  the  creation  of  man 
only  incidentally.  According  to  Babylonian  tradition,  as 
reported  in  Berossus,  ten  kings  ruled  from  the  creation  of  man 
until  the  Flood  and  these  reigns  covered  a period  of  432,000  years. 
Our  composition  in  regard  to  this  long  period  during  which  there 
was  no  sin  and  men  grew  not  old,  makes  no  reference  to  these 
ten  kings,  but  begins  with  the  last  of  the  kings  who  ruled  in  pre- 
diluvian  times.  In  the  description  of  the  Flood,  however,  our 
text  says  that  “Nintud  mother  of  the  Land  (of  Sumer)  had 
begotten  mankind.”2  The  verb  employed  here  means  ordinarily 
“to  beget,  give  birth  to,”  and  another  passage  is  still  more 
explicit.  The  mother  goddess  under  the  title  Ninharsag  says 
to  the  Earth  God  Enlil,  “1  have  begotten  thee  children.”3  And 

1 This  part  of  the  tradition  has  in  some  way  attached  itself  to  Enoch  in  Hebrew.  So  far  as 
Noah  is  concerned  Hebrew  tradition  follows  our  epic  and  not  the  more  current  traditions  dis- 
cussed above. 

-in-tu-ud,  Obv.  II  46;  III  20. 

3 mu-e-si-du-nui-itn , Rev.  1 1 41.  The  verb  dumn  is  connected  with  the  noun  durnu,  “son.” 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


■7 


Enlil  is  also  called  “the  begetter,”  or  “father  begetter,”  the  same 
verb  being  employed  as  in  the  case  of  Ninharsag.1  All  these 
references  to  the  direct  descent  of  man  from  the  Earth  God  and 
the  Earth  Goddess  we  must  interpret  figuratively.2  Sumerian, 
Babylonian  and  Hebrew  tradition  agree  in  regarding  man  as  a 
creature  fashioned  in  some  mysterious  manner  by  the  hands  of 
the  gods  or  a god.  Undoubtedly  the  Sumerians,  whose  greatest 
and  most  ancient  deity  was  mother  earth,  attributed  the  creation 
of  human  kind  exclusively  to  this  virgin  goddess,  a role  which 
became  attached  to  that  type  of  mother  goddess  who  presided 
over  childbirth.  In  the  evolution  of  this  religion  the  earth 
god,  primarily  the  brother3  of  the  mother  goddess,  became  associ- 
ated with  her  in  the  creation  of  man;  the  Sumerian  Epic  of  the 
Creation  and  the  Deluge  speaks  also  of  Anu  the  heaven  god  and 
Enki  the  water  god  as  deities  who  assisted  the  earth  goddess 
and  the  earth  god  in  fashioning  the  “Dark-headed  people,”4 
and  the  creatures  of  the  field.  But  the  references  to  the  creation 
of  man  in  Sumerian  and  Babylonian  poetry  generally  agree  in 
describing  the  mother  goddess,  under  the  titles  Aruru  and 
Mami,  as  the  deity  who  made  man  from  clay.  In  the  poem  of 


1 Rev.  1 1 42. 

2 Note  for  example  Code  of  Hammurapi  44,  43,  where  Hammurapi  speaks  of  Nintud  as 
ummu  baniti,  “my  mother  who  begat  me,”  a purely  figurative  expression  which  describes  Nintud 
as  the  patroness  of  childbirth.  Also  Nebuchadnezzar  speaks  of  the  mother  goddess  as  llat Mab 
ummu  baniti-ia,  VAB.  IV  128,  16. 

3 In  the  same  way,  Innini  the  major  type  of  mother  goddess,  is  originally  the  sister  and 
consort  of  Tammuz,  the  god  of  vegetation.  For  Aruru  as  sister  of  Enlil  see  Meek,  BA  X pt.  1 
No.  11,  13,  dA-ru-ru  SAL-\-KU(ahatu)  d Mu-ul-lil-ld,  “Aruru  sister  of  Enlil;”  cf.  Craig,  RT. 
19,  6 and  BL.,  88,  3+34,  2.  Note  also  that  she  is  the  aunt  of  Lillu,  son  of  Enlil;  [dA-ru-\ru 
ama-tiir  dLil-ra-ge,  "Aruru  the  aunt  of  Lillu;”  dLil-ra,  i.  e.,  Lir-ra  is  a son  of  Ninlil,  consort 
of  Enlil,  CT.  24,  26,  107.  Lirra,  Lilia  is  a variant  of  Lillu,  title  of  Ninib,  son  of  Enlil,  11  R. 
57,  66.  The  passage  on  which  this  relation  of  Aruru  to  the  earth  god  is  based  was  previously 
misunderstood;  see  SBP.  24,  3. 

4 Col.  I 13  f.  Here  the  verb  is  dim,  ordinarily  used  for  “to  build  ” 


i8 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


Atarhasis1 2  and  Ea,  Mami  the  mother  goddess  restores  men 
upon  the  earth  by  creating  them  from  clay. 

“When  she  had  recited  her  incantation  and  had 
cast-  it  upon  her  clay,  fourteen  pieces  she  pinched  off. 
Seven  pieces  on  the  right  she  placed,  and  seven  pieces 
on  the  left  she  placed.  Between  them  she  put  a brick 
. . . she  opened.  She  . . . the  wise  wives , seven 
and  seven  mother  wombs;  seven  create  males  and 
seven  create  females.  The  mother  womb3  creatress 
of  fate  caused  them4  to  complete,5  yea  these  she  caused 
to  complete  (their  offspring)  in  her  own  likeness.6  The 
designs  of  men  Mami  designed.”  A religious  text  of 
the  late  Assyrian  period  in  form  of  an  acrostic  has  the 
line,  “The  workmanship  of  the  hand  of  Aruru  are  the 
things  with  the  breath  of  life  altogether.”7 

Not  only,  did  the  Sumerians  and  Babylonians  retain  this 
tradition  concerning  the  creation  of  man  from  clay  at  the  hand 
of  Aruru,  but  they  believed  her  capable  of  thus  creating  a human 
being  at  any  time  and  for  any  necessity.  In  the  first  book  of 


1 In  this  legend  which  describes  the  repeated  affliction  and  final  annihilation  of  humanity 
by  plagues  Atarhasis  probably  represents  the  last  of  the  ten  kings  and  the  hero  of  the  Flood. 
The  legend  probably  refers  to  a tradition  in  which  mankind  succumbed  to  famine,  drought  or 
pestilence  and  not  to  a flood,  but  from  this  annihilation  Atarhasis  escaped.  The  text  is  badly 
damaged  (CT.  15,  49)  so  that  the  general  import  cannot  be  divined.  See  Dhorme,  Choix  de 
Textes  Religieux  128-130;  Rogers,  Cuneiform  Parallels  113-121. 

2 Read  [ta-at-]ta-di,  and  for  the  verb  nadu  employed  with  siptu,  cf.  idisuma  siptam,  "over 
him  cast  the  curse.”  This  act  is  distinct  from  the  recitation  (rnanu)  of  the  curse,  and  refers  to 
mystic  movements  with  the  hands. 

3 A title  of  Aruru. 

■*  /.  e.,  fourteen  mothers  who  begat  males  and  females. 

5 Ukalala,  historical  present.  With  this  passage  compare  Ham.  Code,  III  27,  sa  u-sa-ak-li- 
lu-su  e-ri-is-lutn  itatMama,  "(Hammurapi)  whom  the  wise  Mama  (=Mami)  caused  to  be  per- 
fected (in  his  mother’s  womb).” 

6 mah-ru-sa;  this  interpretation  was  suggested  by  Dhorme  and  is  supported  by  the  Sumerian 
hymn  to  Nintud,  BL.  88,  21 , 89,  to;  90,  24,  etc.  where  woman  is  said  to  be  created  like  Nintud 
in  form. 

7 lipit  kat  llal Aruru  milharis  napisti,  Craig,  RT.  51,  24;  Martin,  Texies  Religieux  184; 
A.  Jeremias,  Handbucb  der  altorientalischen  Geisteskultur  334. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


19 


the  Epic  of  Gilgamish,  the  people  of  Erech  call  upon  her  to 
create  a being  capable  of  protecting  them  from  the  violence  of 
Gilgamish. 

“Unto  the  mighty  Aruru  they  called.  ‘Thou  O Aruru 
hast  created  [Gilgamish],  and  now  create  his  likeness. 

Like  unto  the  spirit  of  his  heart  may  his  spirit  be.1 
May  they  strive  with  each  other  and  may  Erech 
repose.’2  When  Aruru  heard  this  she  formed  a likeness 
of  the  god  Anu  in  her  mind.  Aruru  washed  her  hands; 
clay  she  pinched  off  and  cast  it  upon  the  field  . . . 

Enkidu  she  fashioned,  the  hero.3” 

The  only  important  Sumerian  hymn  to  Aruru  as  the  creatress 
of  men  is  the  interesting  but  badly  damaged  liturgy  to  her  in 
eight  sections  inscribed  on  a prismatic  prayer  wheel  now  in  the 
Ashmolean  Museum.4 5 6  Although  this  important  text  has  been 


1 Read  with  Jensen,  a-na  ti-um  libbi-su  Iti-u  ma-[h-il  u-um-su].  For  umu,  spirit,  soul, 
see  SBP.  98  n.  7.  For  masalu  construed  with  ana,  cf.  isten  ana  sand  la  musul,  “One  is  not  com- 
pared to  another,”  Harper,  Letters  355,  17.  ana  alakti  rabuti-su  la  umassalu  ilu  aiumma,  “No 
god  can  do  ought  comparable  to  the  ways  of  his  greatness,  K.  8519,  Rev.  2 f. 

2 So,  after  Dhorme. 

3 Dhorme,  Choix  de  Textes,  186,  30-188,  35. 

4 The  text  was  published  in  Babylonian  Liturgies  No.  197  and  a Constantinople  duplicate 
will  be  found  in  my  Historical  and  Religious  Texts  No.  23.  Radau,  Miscel.  No.  8 furnishes 
a variant  of  Col.  IV  and  partially  restores  the  seventh  section  of  this  litany.  This  latter  variant 
escaped  me  when  I edited  the  text.  Radau,  8 Obv.  i = BL.  92,  30  and  the  end  of  the  sixth 
section  is  identical  on  both  texts. 

The  seventh  section  can  be  much  restored  from  the  variant  in  the  University  Museum. 
Col.  IV  2 = Radau  8,  7: 


2.  e aiag-dib-bi  e-nun 

3.  e Kes-(ki ) agag-dib-bi^nun^ 

4.  e-a !3>  en-bi  & A-nun-na-mes 

5.  nu-is-bi  dim  e-an-na-mes 

6.  kisal-e  lugal  bur-ra-an mu-e-gub 
(1)  Var.  omits. 

<2)  Read  e~nun  = kummu.  Traces  of  e on 
<3>  e-a  = e-a  = dsu. 

(4)  Var.  a-an 


2.  To  the  temple,  to  which  the  holy  enter, 

the  shrine, 

3.  To  the  temple  of  Kes,  to  which  the  holy 

enter,  the  shrine, 

4.  The  Anunnaki  go  up,  their  lord(s), 

5.  The  dim  of  Eanna,  their  priest(s)  of 

sacrifice. 

6.  The  aisle,  oh  king,  with  festivity  thou 

treadest. 

prism. 


20 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


partially  restored  from  two  duplicates  we  are  still  unable  to 
fully  understand  its  general  import.  It  is  clear  that  the  liturgists 
intended  to  compose  a chant  in  eight  sections  to  Nintud  the 
creatress  to  be  sung  in  her  temple  at  Kes.  Since  each  section 
ends  with  the  mournful  refrain,  “Who  shall  utter  lamentation,” 
and  the  seventh  section  speaks  of  calamities  which  befell  the 


7^  en-dug  —sag  tug(?)-lal  nam-mi-in  lal(V) 

8.  a-diig?-e  umun <2)  dEn-ki  ne-gab  in-? 

9.  tu-e <2)  a-kin'"i> -a-an  mu-e-gub 

10.  Idl-e . . . .a-su-bi  ki-agag-ga-a-an  du{?)- 

du{?)  e{?)w 

11.  en-du-sig(5>  abkal  ubar-e-ne <6)  ka(7) 

a-an  ma-gal-li-es 

his  v v • - • (9) 

11  ses-a-m  su-mii-un-sig-gi-ne 

12  RU  URU-RU  mu-ni-ib-bi (1  °>-«e 

13  ma-ge  gig-ga^11)  mi-ni-ib-fa 

13. bla  [sn?-]  a-lal-e  gii-fcu-mi-ni-ib-bi <12) 

14  ligir?<'li)-ra  sug-siig  mi-ni-ib-{a 

14. bls  [.  . ,e\dug-[gi\  si-ga-ba-ni-ib-sd 

15.  [.  . .e]-dug-ka-ial-bi  al-dug (14) 


7.  The  beneficent  lord  hath  clothed  it  with 

(15) 

8.  The ( 6>,  lord  Enki  watches  over  it. 

9.  The  baptizer treads. 

10.  The <l7)  in  the  holy  place  dwells. 

11.  The lord,  the  councillor — the  pro- 

tegees salute  him  with  prostration  to  the 
earth. 

1 1 . bis  His they 

12  the  city  humiliated  they  recite. 

13  with  sorrow  abounded. 

13. bis  The  bound  cried  aloud. 

14  in  desolation  abounded. 

14. bls  . . theharem  truly  she  directed  aright. 

13 of  the  harem  its  festivity  she 

made  good. 


Var  Cstpl '.  1992  Rev.  II  4 [nani-\mu-un-lal. 

( ’ Var.  Radau  8,  omits. 

(3)  So  Radau.  The  prism  has  the  sign  UR  Br.  1 1887  clearly  written. 

Var.  Radau,  8,  lal-e  ki-aiag-ga  nam-nii-in-durun(?) . 

(5)  Cf.  CT.  16,  37,  22,  den-dU-sig{?)-bi.  Thompson  read  SA  (for  sig?). 

<6)  So  clearly  Cstple.  1992  Rev.  II  7. 

l7)  Ash.  Prism;  Cstple.  1992  Rev.  II  7.  Radau,  KA  + Ll  sic!  (for  sig?)  is  slightly 
damaged  here. 

(8)  The  prism  has  ki  clearly,  not  hu. 

<9)  This  line  is  preserved  on  Cstple.  1992  and  Radau  8,  but  the  prism  omits  it. 

<10)  My  copy  Cstple.  1992  Rev.  II  10  has  ga,  probably  an  error  for  bi. 

(U)  Var.  Radau,  ga-a-an;  Cstple.  1992  simply  gig.  Note  also  line  10  a-an  where  the  variant 
omits,  a-an  is  therefore  an  adverbial  ending  having  the  same  force  as  the  oblique  ending  a; 
see  Sum.  Gr.  §79  and  SBP.  40,  23  bar-tul-ba-am  ( a-an)  = ina  suklisu.  This  line  would  be  ren- 
dered into  Semitic  by  ina  mursi  ustabarri,  cf.  IV  R 24  No.  3,  21. 

<12)  Cf.  Zimmekn,  KL.  28  Rev.  31  fT. 

<13>  This  sign  on  the  prism  is  clearly  not  the  one  given  by  Radau.  My  collation  has 
Ligir  is,  however,  the  most  probable  rendering. 

(14)  Cstple.  1992  omits  the  three  preceding  lines. 


Radau,  su-me.  I read  lug-lal  on  the  prism. 


(15) 

<16)  A title  of  Enki  as  a god  of  the  water  cult. 
(17)  Title  of  Enki 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE  2 1 

city  we  may  suppose  that,  like  all  other  Sumerian  liturgies,  our 
text  was  written  as  a lamentation  concerning  some  local  calamity. 
But  in  the  composition  of  this  liturgy  the  scribes  have  given 
more  than  ordinary  attention  to  the  legends  which  concerned 
the  cult  in  question.  At  the  end  of  each  section  they  have 
added  a refrain  in  four  lines  which  obviously  refers  to  the  crea- 
tion of  man  in  the  image  of  Ninib  ( assirigi ) and  of  woman  in  the 
image  of  the  mother  goddess  Nintud. 

1 would  now  render  this  refrain  in  the  following  manner: 

“In  accordance  with  the  incantation  of  the  earth 
design1  a form  may  man  bear. 

Their  strong  one  like  Ninib  ( assirgi ) in  form  may  a 
mother  beget. 

Their  lady  like  Nintud  in  form  shall  be.’’ 


1 6  e-dug  ka-gal-bi  al-dugw 

17  <2)  fal-bi-a  mu-un-durun 

18  ga (3>  sag-gd  nin-tag-bi-a  mu-un- 

durun 

19.  [EN-HA  R-(ki)-]w gim  rib-ba  galu  si-in- 

ga-[an-tum-mu\ 

20.  ur-sag-bi  ^ as-sir-gi-gitn  rib-ba  ama  si-[in- 

ga-an-u-tud) 

2 1 . [nin-bi]  ^ Nin-tud-gim  rib-ba-ra (5)  a-ba  er- 

[mu-ni-in-dug] 


16  of  the  harem  its  festivity  she  made 

good. 

17  in  their.  . . abode. 

18.  . . . in  their abode. 

19.  In  accordance  with  the  incantation  of 

the  “earth  design’’  a form  let  man  bear. 

20.  Their  strong  one  like  Ninib  in  form  may 

a mother  beget. 

21.  Their  lady  like  Nintud  in  form  is.  Who 

shall  lament? 


<!)  Cstple.  1992  omits  this  line.  Here  ends  the  variant  in  the  Museum  collections. 

<2>  The  sign  before  {at  appears  to  be  ga  on  the  prism. 

<3)  I have  carefully  collated  these  signs  and  read  ^ F -ea . 

<4)  This  ideogram  is  followed  by  ki-ga  (Var.  ga)  1 1 1 17;  by  ki.  1113,117,125, 

and  in  II  21  both  ki  and  ga  are  omitted.  We  are  induced  to  suppose  on  the  analogy  of 
forms  like  unu-{ki)-ga-{ki)  = Urug-ga,  Erech,  Zimmern,  KL.  200,  26;  \z^^-{ki)-na  = Nina, 
Allotte  de  la  Fuye,  Documents  Pre-sargoniques  167;  that  EN-HAR  represents  the  name  of 
some  city  which  ends  in  g,  and  according  to  I 25,  where  it  follows  immediately  upon  Kes,  that 
it  is  a quarter  of  that  city.  Such  was  my  impression  when  this  difficult  text  was  edited  in  the 
Liturgies,  but  for  another  view  see  note  1 below. 

<5)  ra  emphatic  demonstrative  equivalent  to  am,  see  Sum.  Gr.  §163. 

1 en-gar-ki-ga,  see  above,  no‘e  (4) ; Semitic  luma  sipti  usurat  irsitim.  If  this  interpreta- 
tion be  correct  we  must  explain  gar  as  an  abbreviation  for  gis-gar,  for  gar  in  the  sense  of 


22  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 

Marduk  Associated  with  Aruru 

Thus  beyond  all  doubt  the  Nippurian  school  of  Sumerian 
theology  originally  regarded  man  as  having  been  created  from 
clay  by  the  great  mother  goddess.* 1  But  later  tradition  tended 
to  associate  Enlil  with  Nintud  or  Aruru  in  the  creation  of  man. 
We  have  no  reference  to  such  a tradition  concerning  Enlil,2 
but  Semitic  tradition  repeatedly  associates  Marduk  with  Aruru 
in  this  act  and  even  goes  to  the  extent  of  regarding  him  as  alone 
having  created  man.  1 his  evolution  of  the  tradition  concerning 
Marduk  is,  I venture  to  think,  based  upon  an  earlier  one  con- 
cerning Enki.  In  any  case  this  association  of  a great  god  in  the 
act  of  creation  cannot  be  earlier  than  the  Hammurapi  period, 
for  in  our  text  (Rev.  II  44)  Enlil  accuses  Ninharsag  of  having 
herself  created  two  creatures.  Nevertheless,  following  a ten- 
dency to  regard  Marduk  the  god  of  Babylon  as  the  chief  actor 
in  the  ancient  Sumerian  tradition,  a tendency  which  is  repeated 
later  by  the  Assyrians  with  their  god  Asur,  the  Babylonians 
ascribe  the  creation  of  the  ordered  world,  its  cities,  its  rivers, 
its  vegetation  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  to  Marduk.  And  in 
reciting  the  various  orders  of  creation  by  Marduk  they  tell  us 
that  he  also  “built”  mankind.3  In  this  act  Aruru  assists  him; 
“Aruru  built  with  him  the  first  men.”4  The  text  from  which 

"design”  occurs  rarely  without  the  abstract  prefix  gis  and  is  then  rendered  by  the  loan-word 
karru  in  Semitic,  hi  or  irsitu  has  here  the  meaning  "ground,”  and  gar-ki  would  mean  "a  plan 
designed  on  the  ground,”  from  which  man  was  patterned.  For  the  idea  compare  ki-a  gar-ra  = 
la  ina  hakkar  e$rit,  Haupt,  ASKT.  86,  72.  In  the  passage  cited  above  p.  22  Mami  recites  an 
incantation  over  the  clay  from  which  she  moulds  the  fourteen  mothers. 

1 See  tablet  No  4561,  Rev.  II  44.  Also  Enki  is  said  to  have  created  from  clay  the  minor 
deities  who  preside  over  brickmakers,  carpenters,  jewelers  and  various  arts;  see  Weissbach, 
Miscl.  32,  26. 

1 Except  in  the  titles,  tud,  Rev.  1 1 4;  banii  abi  UuEn-lil,  SBP.  84,  15;  bane  ili  u sarri  basil 
itti-ka,  PSBA.  1912,  153  1.  14. 

3 ameliiii  ibtani. 

\-£'r  ameliiii,  "the  seed  of  mankind,”  i.  e.,  those  from  whom  mankind  descended.  Adapa 
is  called  the  per  ameliiti,  which  obviously  reveals  a tradition  that  Adapa  was  the  first  created 
man,  Dhorme,  Choix,  158,  12. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


23 


this  description  has  been  taken  belongs  to  the  period  of  the 
first  Babylonian  dynasty.1  Like  many  other  important  literary 
documents  it  forms  part  of  an  incantation,2  and  in  this  case  an 
incantation  for  the  dedication  of  a temple.3  Sumerian  and 
Semitic  sources  seem  to  agree  in  bringing  the  mother  goddess 
into  connection  with  the  creation  of  man  only.  She  has 
apparently,  in  all  the  known  sources,  no  clear  connection 
with  the  creation  of  the  world,  or  its  animate  and  inanimate 
nature.4 

Her  Connection  with  the  Story  of  the  Decapitation  of 

Marduk 

On  the  whole  the  theology  and  traditions  concerning  Nintud 
or  Aruru  belong  to  the  Nippurian  school  which  taught  that  the 
earth  god  Enlil  created  the  universe  and  assisted  the  mother 
goddess  in  creating  man.  Over  against  the  teaching  of  this 
school  we  have  constantly  to  keep  in  mind  the  teaching  of  the 
Eridu  or  southern  group  of  theologians  who  taught  that  Enki 
or  Ea  not  only  created  the  universe  but  mankind  as  well.  It  is, 
therefore,  not  surprising  that  we  find  the  great  Babylonian  Epic 
of  Creation  teaching  that  Marduk  the  son  of  Enki  created  man 
from  blood  and  bone.  A grammatical  commentary  on  this 

1 CT.  13,  35-38.  Translated  by  Dhorme,  Choix,  82-9;  A.  Jeremias,  Handbucb,  24.  A 
small  variant  of  the  ends  of  the  first  lines  has  been  discovered  by  Zimmern,  ZA.  28,  101.  See 
also  Rogers,  Cuneiform  Parallels  48-50. 

2 This  text  originally  written  in  Semitic  is  provided  with  a Sumerian  translation  so  arranged 
that  part  is  on  the  left  of  the  Semitic  text  and  part  on  the  right. 

3 See  the  reverse  I.  13,  E\ida  subtum  sirtum  naram  libbi  lluAnu  u >latIstar  alia  and  the  under- 
line, enim-enim-ma  [e-\md-ma-de-ge,  “ Incan' ation  for  the  building  of  a temple.”  Note  also  that 
a poem  of  Creation,  enuma  Anu  ibnu  same,  “When  Anu  created  the  heavens,  ” is  recited  at  a 
ceremony  for  rebuilding  a temple,  Weissbach,  Miscl.  No.  12,  line  23.  For  a similar  text  on 
the  building  of  a private  house  see  Zimmern,  ZA.  23,  369,  a text  partly  rendered  into  English 
by  the  writer  in  an  article  on  Babylonian  Magic,  “Scientia,”  Vol.  XV,  pp.  239  f. 

4 The  only  phrase  which  can  be  construed  so  as  to  include  animals  in  her  creative  work 
has  been  cited  above,  p.  22  n.  7. 


-4 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


epic  says  that  Marduk  created  the  dark-headed  people.1  The 
description  of  this  act  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  book 
as  restored  by  Dr.  L.  W.  King2  and  runs  as  follows: 

“When  Marduk  heard  the  discourse  of  the  gods, 

His  heart  prompts  him3  as  he  devises  a clever  thing. 

As  his  mouth  is  opened4  he  speaks  unto  Ea. 

That  which  he  conceives  in  his  heart  he  imparts  unto 
him. 

My  blood  1 will  fix  together,  bone  1 will  fashion. 

I will  cause  man  to  stand  forth,  verily  man  shall 
be  . . . 

I will  build  man,  the  dweller  of  the  earth. 

Verily  let  the  cults  of  the  gods  be  established  and 
may  these  occupy  their  shrines.” 

This  well-known  passage  has  been  properly  elucidated  by 
King,  who  compares  the  statement  of  Berossus: — “And  Belus 
seeing  a land  deserted  but  fruitful  commanded  one  of  the  gods 
to  take  off  his5 6  head  and  to  mix  earth  with  the  blood  that  flowed 
therefrom,  and  to  fashion  men  and  animals  capable  of  bearing 
the  air.”0  An  earlier  source  detected  by  Zimmern  in  a tablet 
of  the  first  Babylonian  dynasty7  shows  that  this  idea  of  creating 

1 PSBA.  1910,  i6i,  K.  12830,  1;  cf.  also  page  167. 

2 King,  The  Seven  Tablets  of  Creation  p.  86. 

3 nbbal,  an  historical  present  followed  by  the  hal  present,  see  Meissner,  Kurigefassle  Assy- 
riscbe  Grammatik,  §51  g,  and  for  the  historical  present,  ibahki  selibu,  CT.  15,  32  Rev.  9. 

■'  For  the  subjunctive  permansive  construction  epsu  pi-su,  epsa  pi-kunu,  etc.  (see  examples 
in  Muss-Arnolt,  Lexicon  788  b );  see  also  ZA.  IV  233,  K.  3199,  1 1. 

5 The  head  of  Belus. 

6 iSovra  8e  tov  Hr/Aov  yli/Hiv  eprffiov  Koi  Kapirocpopov  KeXevvai  ivi  rwv  OeCiv  rrjr 
KCcpuXrjv  a(f>(X(ivTi  eavTov  tw  drroppvevTi  aipxLTi  cpvpdaai  Tpv  yfjv  Kai  SunrXdaai 
dvdpwTrov;  Kai  Orjpca  to.  8wd.fJ.eva  tov  depa  cpepuv,  Cory,  Ancient  Fragments,  second 
edition,  p.  26. 

7 CT.  VI  6 Obverse.  See  ZA.  14,  281 ; also  A.  Jeremias,  Handbucb  181  n.  g.  This  difficult 
text  was  first  copied  by  the  skillful  hand  of  Dr.  T.  G.  Pinches  and  a new  copy  by  the  writer 
will  be  found  on  Plate  III  of  this  volume.  The  original  is  much  weatherworn.  Although 
I have  succeeded  in  reading  some  more  signs  yet  I owe  more  to  Dr.  Pinches’  copy  than  is 
apparent.  The  original  text  contained  six  columns  of  about  forty  lines  each  and  probably  be- 
longs to  some  unknown  epic 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


25 


man  from  earth  mingled  with  the  blood  of  a god  belongs  originally 
to  the  Eridu  school.  This  tradition  taught  that  Mami  at  the 
instigation  of  Enki  and  other  gods  fashioned  man  from  clay  and 
the  blood  of  a slain  god.  At  least  such  conclusions  force  them- 
selves upon  us  from  the  few  words  which  we  can  decipher  upon 


this  tablet. 


4- 

kdt 1 si-kin  baldti  a-we-lum  li-is-si 

5- 

il-ta-am  if-fu-u  in- 2 

6. 

u-su-ut 3 4 5 ilani  e-ri-is-tu  llatMa 

-mi 

7- 

at-ti-i-ma  sa-as-su-ru 

8. 

ba-ni-a-at  a-we-lu-tim 

9- 

bi-ni-ma,  lu-ul-la-a  li-bi-eT 

ap- 

sa-nam 

10. 

ap-sa-nam  li-bi-el  SI 

1 1 . 

kat  si-kin  balati  a-we-lum  li-is-si 

12. 

ardatu(?)rabitu  bi-a-sa  te-pu 

-sa- 

am-ma 

■3- 

il~{a~kar  a-na  ilani  rabu-ti 

14. 

it-ti-ia-ma  la-na  tu-?  -e-?b 

15- 

it-ti  dunani-su  i-ba-as-si .... 

. it 

4.  A form  of  a creature  of  life  may 

man  bear. 

5.  A goddess  they  called,  they 

6.  “Ob  help  of  the  gods,  wise 

Mami, 

7.  Thou  art  a mother-womb, 

8.  Creatress  of  mankind. 

9.  Build  a virile  figure,  let  him 

bear  the  yoke. 

10.  The  yoke  lei  him  bear 

1 1.  A form  of  a creature  of  life  let 
man  bear.” 

12.  The  mighty  maid6  opened  her 

mouth, 

13.  Speaking  unto  the  great  gods. 

14.  “With  me  a form  shall 

you 

15.  With  his  shape shall  there 

be. 


1 Uncertain.  The  sign  after  SU  I have  taken  for  ‘T  and  the  whole  for  kdt,  Br.  7095. 
kdt,  construct  of  kantu  > kattn  “form,”  is  possible,  for  which  we  have  the  analogy  of  bintu 
> bitu,  cstr.  bit  “house.”  My  rendering  has  been  influenced  by  the  Sumerian  hymn  to  Nin- 
tud  cited  above  where  we  have  the  refrain,  “In  accordance  with  the  incantation  of  the  earth- 
design  a form  let  man  bear.”  The  construction  here  with  two  constructs  so  common  in  Hebrew 
can  be  paralleled  in  Assyrian;  e.  g.,  isdi  kusse  sarrutisu,  Tiglathpileser,  Prism  VI 11  78. 

2 Certainly  not  ih-du-n. 

3 Cf.  Rev.  20. 

4 For  li-bil ? Cf.  Li-bi-il-begaUa,  name  of  a canal  at  Babylon,  VAB.  IV  Index,  and  u-bil  . 
apsanaki,  King,  Magic,  8,  7. 

5 tu-li-e-su-us,  might  answer  to  the  traces  on  the  tablet. 

6 Uncertain.  For  the  original  form  of  GIN,  Brunnow,  11131  see  Allotte  de  la  Fuye, 
DP.  49  Rev.  6;  BM.  38744.  For  gin  in  the  sense  of  ardatu  and  a title  of  the  mother  goddess 
of  love,  a character  attached  to  Innini,  see  Tammui  and  Ishtar  75.  The  sign  has  also  the  value 
ki-el,  kel  = ardatu;  see  MIO.  4159  Obv.  3 (Genouillac,  Inventaire),  where  the  sign  is  followed 
by  la.  See  also  Oppert,  ZA.  i,  440. 


26  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


16.  su-u-ma  ?-la- ? ka-la-ma 

17.  ti-it-ta-am  li- ma  da-ma 

lu(?)-nn-us 

18.  dEn-ki  pi-a-su  i-pu-sa-am-ma 

19.  ii~ia-kar  ana  ilani  ra-bu-ii 

20.  i-na  ar-hi  ri-bu-ti  u -la-ti 

21.  te-li-il-tn  ma-ti  di-in-ri-?-? 

22.  ilam  is-te-en  li-it-bn-hu-ma 

23.  li-te-el-li ? ilani  i-na  di-?-bi 

24.  i-na  si-ri-su  u da-mi-su 

2 3 . datNin-  har-sag  li-ba-li-il  ti-it- 
tam 


16.  He  shall  1 2 all  things. 

17.  Of  clay  shall  he , of  blood 

shall  he ” 

18.  Enki  opened  his  mouth, 

19.  Speaking  unto  the  great  gods. 

20.  "In  the  wide  highways  and 

the 

ii.  Cleansing  of  the  land 

22.  One  god  let  them  slay. 

23.  Let  the  gods 

24.  With  his  flesh  and  his  blood, 

25.  May  Ninharsag  mix  clay.” 


The  Eridu  Tradition 

In  the  tradition  concerning  the  creation  of  man  by  Marduk 
we  have  apparently  to  do  with  a Babylonian  transformation  of 
the  Eridu  view  which  taught  that  Enki  or  Ea  the  water  god 
created  man  from  clay,  which  the  Nippurian  schools  taught  con- 
cerning Arum.-  In  the  so-called  bilingual  Babylonian  version 
which  associates  Mami  with  Marduk  in  this  act  we  have  a com- 
posite tradition  made  by  the  Babylonians  from  two  Sumerian 
sources.  And  in  the  Babylonian  source  just  discussed  the  Eridu 
view  of  the  origin  of  man  from  a mixture  of  clay  with  the  blood 
of  a god  has  been  associated  with  the  Nippurian  teaching  con- 
cerning Mami.  An  Assyrian  fragment,  however,  shows  that  the 
Semites  retained  the  pure  Eridu  tradition  in  some  quarters.3 
According  to  this  source  “the  gods”  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  the  cattle  and  creeping  things,  after  which  Enki4  created 

1 According  to  the  Biblical  narrative  we  expect  here  some  word  for  “rule,  direct  ” 

2 I use  this  title.by  preference  only.  The  reader  will  understand  that  the  other  titles, 
Mami,  Nintud,  Ninharsag  all  indicate  the  same  mother  goddess. 

3 DT.  41  in  CT.  13,  34.  See  Dhorme,  Choix,  96. 

4 Nin-igi-a{ag  is  the  title  used  in  this  poem. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


^7 


“two  little  ones.”1  A tablet  from  Babylon  of  the  late  period2 
but  doubtlessly  resting  upon  a much  earlier  text  says  that  Enki3 
pinched  clay  from  the  sea  and  built  the  various  minor  deities, 
patrons  of  the  arts,  of  agriculture,  etc.,  after  which  “he  created 
the  king  to  care  for  the  temples  and  men  to  care  for  the  cults.” 
We  have,  therefore,  evidence  for  a tradition  which  taught  that 
Enki  had  created  mankind  from  clay. 


Relation  of  the  Two  Sumerian  Poems  to  These 

Traditions 

The  poem  of  Creation  and  the  Flood  appears  to  have 
completely  confounded  these  traditions  for  here  both  Enki  and 
Ninharsag4  create  mankind,  but  Enki  alone  brings  the  “cattle 
and  fourfooted  beasts  of  the  field’’  into  being,  and  causes  cities 
to  be  built.  Obviously  the  later  bilingual  account  discussed 
above  depends  upon  this  poem.5  This  Sumerian  poem  also  agrees 
with  the  Babylonian  bilingual  account  on  one  other  vital  point 
in  that  it  speaks  of  the  origin  of  mankind  as  “the  seed  of  man- 
kind,” or  the  first  men.6  The  fragments  of  this  poem  permit  us 
to  infer  that  the  god  Enki  of  Eridu  is  here  regarded  as  ruling 
over  mankind  in  prediluvian  times.  The  Poem  of  Paradise, 
the  Flood  and  the  Fall  of  Man  agrees  entirely  upon  this  latter 
point.  Both  poems  incorporate  fully  the  Eridu  tradition  of 


1 2 su-ha-[ri  ib-ni ]. 

2 Weissbach,  Miscel.  No.  12. 

3 The  text  employs  the  title  Nu-dim-mud. 

4 Col.  1 13  where  also  Anu  the  heaven  god  and  Enlil  the  earth  god  are  added. 

6 Here  Marduk  replaces  Enki. 

6 numun-nani-lu-kal(  = zer  ameluti)  Col.  IV  7,  cf.  I 2.  This  is  the  transcription  given  by 
Poebel.  The  bilingual  text  has  numun-nam-lu-gal-lu,  CT.  13,  36,  21;  cf.  Thureau-Dangin, 
SAK.  154  III  24.  In  a strict  sense  the  term  “seed  of  mankind,”  should  refer  to  the  first  man, 
as  the  term  is  applied  to  Adapa  alone.  The  Greeks  render  this  idea  by  twv  nvOpwTrujv 
yevos,  see  Cory,  Ancient  Fragments,  298,  note. 


28 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


paradise  the  organization  of  an  Utopian  society  by  the  creator 
Enki  and  the  destruction  of  mankind  by  this  same  water  god. 
Both  agree  also  in  describing  the  mother  goddess  Nintud1  as 
weeping  for  mankind  whom  she  had  created  and  planning  to 
save  them.2  Our  poem,  however,  retains  the  Nippurian  point 
of  view  regarding  the  creation  of  men,  for  here  Nintud  is  con- 
sistently described  as  having  created  them.  It  will  be  seen, 
however,  that  already  in  the  Sumerian  period  of  great  creative 
literature  and  theological  speculation,  a strong  tendency  had 
arisen  to  accept  the  Eridu  tradition  and  that  the  creation  of  man 
from  clay  at  the  hands  of  a mother  goddess  began  to  lose  promi- 
nence in  the  teachings  of  the  Nippurian  school  who  moulded  the 
views  of  succeeding  Semitic  theology.  The  Eridu  point  of  view 
is  the  one  accepted  in  Hebrew  tradition,  borrowed  no  doubt 
from  the  Babylonians  of  the  first  dynasty,  and  imbedded  in  one 
of  the  oldest  Hebrew  sources,  “And  God  fashioned  man  of  the 
dust  from  the  ground.”3  The  problem  of  giving  animal  vitality 
to  this  creation  of  clay  does  not  appear  in  the  earlier  Sumerian 
sources.  In  fact  the  Babylonian  sources  speak  of  animal  vitality, 
napisti ,4  generally  in  connection  with  animals  only.5  In  any 
case  they  have  not  suggested  an  origin  for  the  inception  of 
vitality  and  intelligence  into  the  creature  whom  Aruru  or  Enki 


1 The  Poem  of  Creation  and  the  Flood  also  uses  the  title  a;ag  dinnana-ge,  ‘‘Holy  Innina,” 
III  16. 

2 Nintud  is  probably  the  deity  who  urges  Ziudsuddu  to  escape  in  a boat  in  the  Poem  of 
The  Creation  and  the  Deluge.  Note  that  in  Col.  IV  she  wails  for  the  people  and  that  in  Col.  IV 
some  deity  appears  to  be  revealing  to  the  king  the  decision  of  the  gods  to  destroy  mankind. 
This  deity  uses  the  word  na-ri-ga-mu,  a word  occurring  in  an  address  of  Nintud  to  Tagtug  in 
our  text,  Rev.  I 41,  na-rig-mu,  “My  purging.”  The  pronoun  “my”  undoubtedly  refers  to 
Nintud  in  both  poems. 

3 Genesis  2,  7. 

4 Dhorme,  Choix,  86,  22,  bill  seri  si-kin  napisti  ina  seri  ibtani,  "The  cattle  of  the  field,  the 
creatures  of  the  breath  of  life,  he  fashioned  in  the  field.” 

5 Cf.  also  Genesis  1,  20,  24. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


29 


had  moulded,1  other  than  the  late  tradition  that  the  blood  and 
flesh  of  a god  gave  vitality  and  a soul  to  the  creature  of  clay. 
The  Biblical  statement,  “And  he  blew  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life2  and  the  man  became  a living  being,”  has,  so  far 
as  our  material  goes,  no  equivalent  in  any  Sumerian  or  Baby- 
lonian source. 


The  Greek  Tradition  Concerning  Prometheus 

Among  the  Greeks  the  same  tradition  of  the  creation  of  man 
from  clay  became  current  in  the  late  period,  when  it  obviously 
filtered  into  Oriental  Greek  writers  from  Berossus  and  other 
Babylonian  sources.  The  Greeks  attached  this  story  to  their 
god  Prometheus,  who  in  a general  way  corresponds  to  Enki  in 
Sumero-Babylonian  religion.  Both  are  the  principal  patrons  of 
industrial  arts  in  their  respective  pantheons,  particularly  of 
the  arts  of  pottery  and  metallurgy.  The  classical  description 
of  the  character  of  and  legends  concerning  Prometheus  have 
been  preserved  in  the  Theogony  of  Hesiod  510-607  and  the 
Protagoras  of  Plato  320  D,  but  the  moulding  of  man  from  clay 
does  not  yet  appear  in  these  authors.  Apollodorus,  who  wrote 
at  Athens  in  the  early  part  of  the  second  century  B.C.,  and  who 
knew  the  works  of  Berossus  well,  appears  to  be  the  first  Greek 
writer  to  mention  Prometheus  in  this  connection.  “Prometheus 


1 Both  Enki  and  Aruru  are  designated  by  a title  which  refers  to  working  at  clay  with  a pot- 
ter’s disk.  dnin-duk-ka-bur  (glossed  pa-ha-rum?),  CT.  24,  12,  23  = 25,  86,  is  given  as  a title  of 
Belit-ilani  in  connection  with  the  name  Aruru.  On  the  other  hand,  nun-ur-ra  = dduk-ka-bur  = 
lluEa  sa  pahari,  CT.  25,  48,  7.  dnun-ur-ra  — lluE-a,  VR.  51  B 71.  Hence  duk-ka-bur  has  the 
Sumerian  locution  nunurra  and  the  Semitic  value  paharu,  potter.  Hence  Aruru  is  belit  pahari, 
“Mistress  of  the  potter,”  patroness  of  the  potter’s  art  and  Ea  or  Enki  is  the  patron  god  of  the 
potter.  These  titles  probably  refer  to  the  legends  cited  above.  The  Egyptians  also  have  the 
same  tradition,  for  a wall  painting  in  the  temple  of  Luxor  represents  the  god  Chnum  in  the  act 
of  moulding  a man  and  a woman  on  a potter’s  wheel. 

2 nilmath  haiijm  has  no  etymological  or  exact  logical  equivalent  in  Babylonian. 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


3° 

having  moulded  man  from  water  and  earth  gave  them  also  fire, 
having  concealed  it  in  a hollow  stalk  unbeknown  to  Zeus.”1 
Lucian,  who  wrote  in  the  second  century  of  our  era  and  who  was 
himself  an  oriental,  states  in  his  Prometheus  that  Athena  aided 
Prometheus  in  the  creation  of  men.  Athena  in  the  Greek 
religion  corresponds  here  to  Aruru  of  the  Babylonians  who 
assisted  Marduk  in  moulding  men  from  clay.  Lucian’s  state- 
ment which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Prometheus  himself  is, 
‘‘And  now  according  to  poetic  diction  ‘earth  with  water  having 
mixed’  and  having  made  it  pliable  1 fashioned  men,  having  also 
then  summoned  Athena  to  aid  me  in  the  work.”2  This  story  is 
referred  to  by  Horace  in  the  well-known  lines:  ‘‘It  is  said  that 
Prometheus,  having  been  ordered  to  add  to  the  primeval  clay 
a bit  severed  from  everywhere,3  placed  in  our  hearts  the  passion 
of  a mad  lion.”4  The  same  story  is  told  by  Hyginus  a Latin 
author  of  the  first  century  B.  C.:  “Prometheus  son  of  Japetus 
was  the  first  to  fashion  men  from  clay;  and  afterwards  Vulcan 
by  the  command  of  Jove  made  the  figure  of  a woman  from  clay 
unto  which  Minerva  gave  a soul.”5 6 


1 Apollodorus,  I,  7,  i;  be  eg  (ioaros  kill  yr/s  avOpunrovs  7rA.dcras  ebioKev 

avTOis  kill  7 rvp,  Xadpa  Aids,  ev  vapOyKL  Kpvijjas. 

2 Lucian,  Prometheus,  13;  kill  by  Kara  r ov  7tolt]tlkov  Xoyov  < ycuai'  vocl  <£dpus  > kill 
8iup.aXa£as  aveTrXaera  to  is  avOpw  ttovs  iltl  kill  ryv  A Oyvav  7rapaKaXecras  itwittiXii  /3  eir  6<l  l 
poL  tov  epyov.  Oreli.i,  Commentary  on  Horace,  Bk.  I 16  p.  108  quotes  this  passage  of  Lucian 
so  that  it  says  that  Athena  breathed  upon  the  clay  and  thus  gave  it  a soul.  crweipya^ero  8 
olvtw  kcli  y AOtjvol  ep.7rveovira  tov  TryXov.  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  Orelli 
obtained  this  distortion  of  Lucian  for  it  is  the  only  mention  of  breathing  upon  the  clay  to  give 
it  a soul. 

3 /.  e.,  some  characteristic  from  each  animal. 

4 Horace,  Carmina  1 16: 

Fertur  Prometheus,  addere  principi 
Limo  coactus  particulam  undique 
Desectam,  et  insani  Ieonis 
Vim  stomacho  apposuisse  nostro. 

6 Hyginus,  Fabulae  142:  Prometheus  lapeti  filius  primus  homines  ex  luto  finxit;  postea 
Vulcanus  Jovis  jussu  ex  luto  mulieris  effigiem  fecit  cui  Minerva  animam  dedit. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


31 


Classical  scholars  seem  to  be  agreed  in  assuming  that  the 
legend  of  the  fashioning  of  man  by  Prometheus  came  into  Greek 
mythology  in  the  Alexandrian  period;1  several  drawings  of  this 
mythological  event  are  known  from  the  late  period,  in  which 
Prometheus  fashions  several  youths  from  clay.  In  one  of  these 
scenes  Athena  or  Minerva  presents  to  these  clay  figures  a dove, 
by  which  the  artist  intended  to  indicate  that  Athena  gave  to 
men  their  souls.2  Orelli,  however,  remarks  upon  the  sixteenth 
ode  of  Horace:  “The  legend  concerning  the  creation  of  men 
from  clay  by  Prometheus  was  unknown  to  Homer  and  Hesiod, 
and  was  first  mentioned  by  Erinna.”  Now  Erinna,  a Greek 
poetess  and  contemporary  of  Sappho,  seems  to  refer  to  this 
story  in  the  following  lines: 

“Out  of  tender  hands  (came)  the  pictures,  oh  most 
agreeable  Prometheus! 

And  men  are  like  unto  thee  in  wisdom.’’3 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  the  story  began  to  invade  Greek 
mythology  as  early  as  the  seventh  century.  We  have  then  no 
conclusive  evidence  for  assuming  that  it  was  borrowed  from 
Babylon,  but  the  rapid  propagation  of  the  myth  after  the 
works  of  oriental  writers  like  Berossus  and  Lucian  became 
widely  known  tends  to  confirm  the  writer  in  this  belief.  The 

1 So  Tqutain  in  the  Dictionaire  des  Antiquites  Grecques  et  Romaines,  p.  682.  Dr.  L.  R. 
Farnell  has  expressed  the  same  opinion  to  me  and  says  that  the  whole  Prometheus  story 
probably  came  from  Babylon. 

2 Dr.  Farnell,  however,  says  that  these  youths  are  already  alive  as  they  leave  the  hand 
of  Prometheus,'  and  he  thinks  that  Athena  here  gives  the  children  a bird  to  play  with.  He  says 
that  only  occasionally  on  Greek  monuments  does  a bird  (not  the  dove)  represent  the  soul.  In 
other  scenes  of  the  creation  in  the  late  Greek  period  the  butterfly  invariably  typifies  the  soul 
and  in  these  scenes  Athena  holds  the  butterfly  over  the  head  of  the  newly  created.  Dr.  Far- 
nell adds  that  in  the  scene  referred  to  above,  which  is  taken  from  a sarcophagus  in  the  Louvre 
of  the  Graeco-Roman  period,  the  dove  no  longer  represents  the  soul  and  that  the  older  and 
deeper  idea  has  become  a playful  motive. 

3 Anthologiae  Palatinae,  1 p.  221,  Epigram  352:  ’E£  ana \d>v  x€LP^v  ypappara 
XuScrre  UpopaOtv  tvn  xal  avOpainoi  rlv  opaXol  cro(f>iav. 


32 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


Greek  traveler  Democritus  says  that  he  was  at  Babylon,  and 
Clement  of  Alexandria  states  that  Democritus  translated  the 
story  of  Ahikar  into  Greek.1  This  proves  that  Babylonian 
influence  was  already  exerting  itself  in  Greece  in  the  fifth 
century. 

More  authentic  in  classical  Greek  tradition  is  the  myth  of 
the  fashioning  of  Pandora,  the  first  woman,  and  the  cause  of  all 
human  sorrows.  So  well  known  was  her  creation  by  the  potters 
that  Sophocles  devoted  a tragedy  to  the  subject  called  “Pandora 
or  the  Forgers.”  Only  a few  fragments  remain,  one  of  which 
has  become  well  known  and  taken  to  refer  to  the  myth  of  Prome- 
theus and  the  creation  of  men: 

“And  to  knead  the  first  primeval  clay  with  the  hands.”2 3 

If  this  passage  refers  to  the  creation  of  men  and  not  of  Pandora, 
then  the  poet  surely  referred  to  the  fashioning  of  the  latter  in 
some  lost  passage.  He  apparently  knew  of  her  creation  at  the 
hands  of  several  divine  potters,  for  he  says  in  verses  ascribed  to 
this  tragedy  bv  Hermann: 

“Go  ye  on  the  way  now,  all  ye  skillful  people, 

Who  the  grim-eyed  Ergane:i  of  Zeus  with  standing 
Winnowing  fans  beseech,  ye  who  beside  the  anvils 
Fashioned  with  hands  soulless  matter, 

Obedient  to  the  heavy  hammer  and  the  blows.”4 

1 Diels,  H.,  Fragmente  der  V orsokraliker , 2d  ed.,  Vol.  1 439,  No.  299;  Asyerat  yap  rr/v 
’ A/sucapou  a’TrjX.riv  €pp.evevdeuTav  rots  totots  crvvra^ai  (rvyypap.pM<Ti. 

2 Frag.  Soph.  701  in  Bibliotheca  Graecorum  Scriptorum,  p.  368,  preserved  in  the  Scholae 
of  Hippocrates:  kui  7rpcoTov  dpyov  -rrrjXov  opya£etv  ^epoti'.  The  text  is  not  quite  certain 
regarding  ap\6v  but  the  passage  is  clearly  connected  with  Horace,  Carmina  I t6  so  that 
Sophocles  may  possibly  refer  to  Prometheus  here. 

3 Title  of  Athena  as  the  “worker.” 

4 See  Frag.  Soph.  ibid.  Frag.  705: 

Bar’  «ts  68 bv  8i),  7ras  8 ^upwvai  Atios 
01  rrfv  At  6s  yopyw—LV  EpydvrjV  crrarots 
Xi'kvolctl  TrpocrTpi—ecrde,  tijv  —ap  aKpovi 
TVTrdoi  fiapeia  kill  kottols  v—ijkoov 
aCvyoi'  vXtjv  orjfuovpyovvTti  yepotr. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


33 


Thus  Sophocles  already  exhibits  traces  of  an  early  belief  in  the 
assistance  of  Athena  who  was  said  to  have  given  life  to  the 
creature  of  clay.  “Pandora,  whom  the  gods  moulded  as  the 
first  woman,”  says  Apollodorus,1  and  Hesiod  says  that  Vulcan 
made  Pandora  from  clay.2  Others  tell  of  the  origin  of  men  from 
the  semen  of  Ouranos  the  heaven  god,3  a doctrine  taught  also 
in  Orphic  literature: 

“(1  have  sung)  the  birth  of  powerful  Brimo,  and  also 
the  unhallowed  deeds 

Of  the  earth-born  giants,  who  spilt  from  Heaven  the 
dread 

Semina]  fluid,  the  primeval,  whence  was  generated 
The  race  of  mortals  who  dwell  upon  the  boundless 
earth  forever.”4 

This  Professor  Gilbert  Murray  tells  me  is  good  Orphic 
doctrine  and  he  cites  another  line  from  their  teachings: 

“Child  of  earth  am  I and  of  the  starry  Heaven.”5 

A schola  cited  in  Anthologiae  Palatinae  p.  270  says  that  Prome- 
theus made  men  from  clay  and  put  into  them  a voice  and  a soul. 
A similar  teaching  from  the  Orphic  collection  is:  “And  man, 
says  Orpheus,  was  moulded  by  God  himself  from  earth  and 
received  from  him  a reasonable  soul,  even  as  the  all-wise  Moses 
has  revealed  these  things.”6 

Apollodorus,  1,  7,  2:  Ilai'Soipas,  rjv  tirkuauv  Otol  npwryv  ywaiKa. 

2 Hesiod,  Theogony  571. 

3 Ibid.  185. 

4 Orpheus,  Argonautica,  17-20: 

Bpt|U.oGs  t evSvvaToio  yovas,  yS’  tpya  al8y\a 
Tyyevtosv,  ol  Xvypov  iir  Ovpavov  icrraiavTO 
2rr€/o/Aa  yovys  to  n pocrdtv,  ddtv  yevos  i^tytvovro 
®vyrwv,  ol  Kara  yauav  dnupiTOV  aUv  tu.cn. 

6 Trjs  7rui?  tlpu  kul  O vpavov  acrrepoevTos. 

6 Orpheus,  preserved  by  Malala  a Byzantine  writer;  see  Cory,  Ancient  Fragments  208. 


34 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


Thus  we  see  that  the  Greeks  first  explained  the  inception 
of  life  and  soul  to  the  assistance  of  the  mother  goddess.  T his 
assistance  permeates  the  whole  Babylonian  tradition,  but  there 
she  confines  her  work  to  assisting  in  moulding  the  clay.  We 
seem  to  be  here  in  the  presence  of  a tradition  in  Greece  which 
although  strangely  like  the  Babylonian  is  nevertheless  either 
wholly  independent  or  a borrowing  modified  by  Greek  thought. 
The  origin  of  the  soul  and  life  was  explained  in  Babylonia  by 
the  fact  that  the  creatress  mingled  the  blood  of  a god  with  the 
clay.  This  view  seems  to  survive  in  Greece  only  in  the  story  of 
Dionysus  Zagreus;  for  they  said  of  him  that  man’s  soul  came 
from  his  blood  and  that  the  body  had  been  made  from  the 
ashes  of  the  blighted  Titans. 

The  Egyptian  View 

The  Egyptians  have  nearly  the  same  story  regarding  the 
creation  of  man.  Mere  the  river  god  Khnum,  who  is  frequently 
called  the  potter,1  is  represented  in  the  same  role  of  Enki  the 
water  god  of  Eridu.  And  like  Enki  in  Babylonian  symbolical 
mythology  he  has  the  head  of  a ram  in  Egyptian  representations 
of  him.2  Unfortunately  we  possess  no  details  of  this  legend  in 
Egypt;  our  argument  is  based  solely  upon  the  inferences  which 
we  draw  from  the  sculptures  of  Deir  el  Bahari  and  Luxor. 
The  former  represents  Khnum  in  the  act  of  moulding  the  em- 
bryonic figure3  of  the  future  queen  Hatshepsut  from  clay  on  a 

1 keten  in  Egyptian. 

2 Enki  is  generally  represented  by  a creature  having  a ram's  head,  neck  and  fore  shoulders 
with  fore  feet  in  a crouching  position;  the  body  is  that  of  a fish. 

3 The  god  moulds  two  figures,  one  of  which  the  Egyptologists  explain  as  the  Ka  or  divine 
double  of  the  queen.  In  Egyptian  religion  each  person  had  a Ka  or  spiritual  protector  which 
corresponds  to  the  "god  of  a man"  (ilu  sa  ameli),  of  the  Sumero-Babylonian  religion.  The 
queen  represents  herself  as  a man  in  these  sculptures  and  the  two  clay  figures  are  also  those  of 
a male. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


35 


potter’s  wheel.  The  frog-headed  goddess  Heket  extends  the  ank, 
sign  of  life,  to  the  nostrils  of  the  clay  figure,  in  order  to  give  it 
life.1  The  sculptures  of  Luxor  represent  in  the  same  manner  the 
ram-headed  Khnum  moulding  the  figure  of  the  future  king 
Amonhotep  III.  Here,  however,  it  is  Hathor2  who  extends  the 
symbol  of  life  to  the  moulded  clay.3  These  scenes,  which  are 
contemporary  with  the  Cassite  period  in  Babylonia,  are  much 
later  than  the  Sumero-Babylonian  legends.  Whether  these 
ideas  are  based  upon  an  earlier  Egyptian  tradition  or  not  1 am 
unable  to  say.  The  similarity  of  ideas  and  details  is  striking 
and  a borrowing  from  Sumer  seems  to  me  probable.  The  theme 
of  a life-giving  mother  evidently  runs  through  the  whole  fabric 
of  ancient  mythology  and  has  been  embedded  in  Hebrew  tradi- 
tion in  the  story  of  Eve. 


The  Biblical  Form  of  the  Assistance  of  the  Mother 

Goddess 

In  Genesis  3,  20  we  have  a tradition  that  the  name  of  the 
first  woman  was  Hawwa,  a name  which  probably  represents  a 
survival  of  an  ancient  west  Semitic  mother  goddess.4  Like  all 
other  peoples  the  western  Semites  must  have  worshipped  the 
earth  mother  goddess  and  considered  her  as  the  creatress  of  men. 
Hawwa  has  probably  survived  as  the  first  woman  in  Hebrew 


1 See  Eduard  Naville,  Deir  el  Bahari,  part  II,  plate  XLVIII  and  pages  14  ff. 

2 Heket  is  only  a local  form  of  Hathor. 

3 See  Colin  Campbell,  The  Miraculous  Birth  of  King  Amon  Hotep  1 1 1 , 27  f.  and  plate  opp. 
page  28. 

4 Following  their  custom  of  explaining  unintelligible  foreign  words  by  a native  homophone, 
the  Hebrews  explained  Hawwa  by  connecting  it  with  the  verb  n,ri)  to  live,  “be  full  of  life.” 
Hence  they  probably  understood  the  name  to  mean,  “Life,  source  of  life.”  Semitic  scholars 
have  long  since  rejected  this  explanation. 


36 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


tradition  after  this  people  had  become  thoroughly  imbued  with 
Babylonian  ideas.  She  yields  her  place  as  the  creatress  in  the 
native  tradition  to  the  Babylonian  teachings  of  Eridu  which 
represents  a god  as  creator  assisted  by  Nintud-Aruru-Mami  the 
great  goddess  of  childbirth.  Under  the  influence  of  this  myth 
which  they  seem  to  have  borrowed  in  its  entirety  the  Hebrews 
transformed  Hawwa  into  the  mother  goddess  who  assists  in  the 
creation  of  man.  As  wife  of  the  first  man  she  gives  natural 
birth  to  the  first  human  child,  but  the  phraseology  used  by  the 
Hebrew  in  describing  the  birth  of  Cain  is  taken  directly  from  the 
bilingual  poem  of  the  creation  of  man  by  Marduk  and  Aruru. 
For,  as  we  have  seen,  in  that  version  “Aruru  fashioned  the  seed 
of  mankind  with  him.’’1  And  the  Hebrew  says  of  the  birth  of 
Cain,  “And  she  conceived  and  bore  Cain  and  she  said,  ‘1  have 
created  a man  with  Jahweh.’  ”2  The  word  used  for  “with”  in 
each  language  is  philologically  the  same  and  the  form  of  expres- 
sion shows  clearly  enough  the  survival  of  the  Babylonian  myth. 

Hawwa  like  the  Sumerian  earth  goddess  was  connected 
with  serpent  worship  in  prehistoric  times.  Scholars  have  long 
since  connected  her  name  with  the  Aramaic  word  for  serpent 
hawwe.  That  Hawwa  really  was  an  ancient  ophidian  goddess 
is  proven  by  the  fact  that  the  name  Hawwat  has  been  found  in 
Phoenician  with  the  title  of  a goddess.  This  important  inscrip- 
tion, which  preserves  the  only  reference  to  this  lost  deity,  was 
found  in  a necropolis  at  Carthage  and  belongs  to  a late  period. 
A devotee  addresses  a curse  against  his  enemies  to  her  as, 
“Oueen  Hawwat ,3  goddess  and  queen.’’4  Since  the  imprecator 

1 it-ti-su=  “with  him,”  “in  company  with  him.” 

2 eth  Jahaweh. 

3 This  is  of  course  the  proper  pronunciation  of  the  letters  HVT. 

4 So  Lidsbarski:  G.  A.  Cooke,  North  Semitic  Inscriptions  135  follows  Clermont-Ganneau 
who  renders,  “O  ladies  Hawwath  Elath  and  Milkath.” 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE  37 

placed  the  sheet  of  lead  on  which  he  wrote  the  curse  in  a sepulchre, 
we  have  generally  inferred  Hawwat  to  have  been  an  underworld 
deity.  This  argument  and  these  facts  are  all  accepted  views 
of  Biblical  criticism,  but  the  arguments  from  Babylonian  sources 
have  not  been  used  by  Old  Testament  scholars.  The  author 
has  collected  material  in  the  chapter  on  the  ophidian  and 
oracular  deities  in  Tammu{  and  Ishtar 1 to  indicate  how  im- 
portant was  the  serpent  character  of  the  Babylonian  mother 
goddess.  In  fact  the  first  sign  used  to  write  her  name  prob- 
ably represents  a serpent  coiling  about  a staff.2  Curiously 
the  type  of  mother  goddess  who  became  the  special  patron 
of  childbirth  retains  special  connection  with  this  ophidian 
character.  A mythological  text  says  that  Nintud,  “From  her 
girdle  to  the  soles  of  her  feet  appears  with  scales  like  a ser- 
pent.”3 The  Babylonians  identified  Nintud  with  Serpens  or 
Hydra  in  their  mythology.  Although  none  of  her  titles  which 
we  shall  presently  discuss  reveals  any  ophidian  connection, 
nevertheless,  the  majpr  mother  type  Innini  or  Ishtar,  especially 
the  local  type  KA-DI  at  Dir  retains  distinct  titles  of  an  ophidian 
character  and  the  facts  adduced  above  complete  the  argument. 
Thus  Aruru-Nintud-Mami,  the  Babylonian  mother  goddess 
who  assisted  Marduk  in  the  creation  of  man,  was  clearly  con- 
nected with  serpent  worship;  this  fact  probably  hastened  her 
identification  with  the  western  Hawwd. 


Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1914. 

2 Ibid..,  122  n.  4 and  PSBA.  1914,  p.  281 . 

3 Ibid.,  123  n.  3. 


3§ 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


The  Eridu  Version  of  the  Fall  of  Man. 

Since  the  fashioning  of  the  first  human  pair  by  the  god 
of  Eridu  is  evidently  the  source  of  that  general  Babylonian 
tradition  which  passed  to  the  Hebrews  and  the  Greeks,1  we 
should  expect  to  find  an  Eridu  version  of  the  Fall  of  Man 
which  agrees  more  or  less  with  that  of  the  Hebrew.  The  view 
taken  of  this  great  problem  in  the  text  of  tablet  No.  4561  is 
evidently  the  one  taught  by  the  theologians  of  Nippur.  As 
we  have  seen,  they  do  not  raise  the  problem  of  the  origin  of 
sin  as  does  the  Hebrew  version,  but  they  attempted  to  explain 
the  origin  of  disease,  mortality,  the  hostility  of  nature  to  man- 
kind, and  his  subjection  to  endless  toil.  This  side  of  the  prob- 
lem found  its  way  also  into  the  Hebrew.  But  there  it  is  the 
first  man  Adam  whose  disobedience  brought  about  this  infinite 
woe.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Nippurian  theology,  as  repre- 
sented in  our  tablet,  attaches  this  disobedience  to  the  survivor 
of  the  Flood.  Had  the  Sumerians  any  body  of  speculation 
which  regarded  the  first  man  as  having  been  culpable?  We 
have  as  yet  no  Sumerian  source  to  confirm  this  suggestion, 
but  several  Semitic  fragments  of  a long  poem  known  as  the 
“Legend  of  Adapa’’  obviously  support  an  Eridu  teaching  on 
this  subject.2 


1 We  may  of  course  suppose  that  the  Hebrew  version  is  based  upon  an  ancient  Canaanit- 
ish  indigenous  tradition;  Sanchonjathon,  to  whom  we  must  look  for  such  traditions  among  the 
western  Semites,  has,  however,  no  similar  statement  and  other  Hebrew  mythology  is  closely  con- 
nected with  Sumero-Babylonian.  In  case  of  the  Greek  myths  concerning  Prometheus  we  are 
not  in  a position  to  affirm  or  deny  borrowing  from  Babylonia,  but  that  appears  to  be  at  least 
probable.  The  Egyptian  version  is  possibly  independent  of  the  Sumerian. 

2Zimmern  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to  see  the  relation  between  Gen.  2,  4^-3  24  and  the 
Adapa  Myth.  This  epic  is  far  from  complete  in  the  present  state  of  our  Assyrian  studies.  The 
first  tablet  or  book  is  undoubtedly  represented  by  Rm.  982+80-7-18,  178  in  CT.  13,  31  from 
the  Asurbanipal  Library.  After  a break  of  unknown  length  we  have  twenty-two  lines  from  an 
Assyrian  cylinder  published  by  Scheil  in  Maspero’s  Recueil  de  Travaux,  20,  127  ff.  The  most 
important  part  of  the  text  has  been  found  in  the  Amarna  Collection  of  the  Cassite  period,  obverse 
36,  reverse  35  lines,  text  in  H.  Wickler’s  Thontafeln  von  El-Amarna  No.  240,  and  collated  by 
Knudtzon,  BA.  IV  128-130,  and  VAB.  II  964-969.  Not  much  can  be  missing  between  Scheil’s 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


39 


This  poem  begins  by  describing  how  the  god  Ea  (i.  e., 
Enki)  created  Adapa  in  the  sea;  whereupon  he  became  mighty,* 1 
his  build  became  well  developed,2  his  growth  was  extensive.3 
He  became  skilled  in  navigating  the  seas  by  aid  of  the  winds.4 
Ea  had  equipped  him  carefully,5  and  he  was  exalted  much  in 
fame.6  The  fragment  refers  to  his  great  wisdom,  his  four  eyes 
and  his  lips.  The  Scheil  fragment  goes  on  here  with  the 
description  of  his  wisdom.  Like  Adam  of  the  Biblical  account 
he  possessed  that  infinite  knowledge  which  enabled  him  to  give 
names  to  all  things  with  the  breath  of  life.7 

“ I caused  him  to  be  equipped  with  a vast  intelli- 
gence to  reveal  the  forms  of  the  land.”8 

usurat  mdti,  the  forms  of  the  lands,  means  in  Babylonian  the- 
ology the  divine  concepts  of  things,  which  exist  in  the  world, 


fragment  and  this  text.  A fragment  K.  8743  published  on  plate  IV  is  said  to  be  a duplicate 
of  lines  12-20  of  the  obverse  of  the  Amarna  tablet.  This  is  true  only  in  a general  sense,  for  this 
fragment  differs  considerably;  we  must  infer  that  the  Assyrian  redaction  (to  which  K.  8743 
belongs)  differed  much  from  the  Babylonian  to  which  the  Amarna  text  belongs.  A fifth  fragment 
of  twenty-two  lines  from  the  Assyrian  version  belongs  somewhere  near  the  end  of  the  epic: 
K.  8214,  published  by  Strong,  PSBA.  1894,  274,  and  collated  by  the  writer.  K.  8743  and 
8214  are  in  the  same  handwriting,  have  the  same  clay  texture  and  belong  to  the  same  copy. 
Rm.  982  is  of  other  color  and  texture  and  the  writing  is  from  another  hand.  K.  8214  is  from 
the  obverse  of  a large  single  column  tablet.  Line  6 after  su  I read  . Line  9 El.. 
Line  10  — ki.  Line  11,  NU  is  wholly  uncertain.  Line  20,  I see  The  sign  in  line  6 is 
probably  el  but  1 do  not  know  the  construction  el  ki-ma  for  “more  than.”  I would,  however, 
render  [ki]bit-su  el(?)ki-ma  ki-bit  iluA-nu  man-nu  u-at-iar,  “Who  has  made  his  command  to 
exceed  the  command  of  Anu?”  At  the  beginning  of  line  20  1 would  restore  [mar-s]u. 

1 i-ti-il-ma,  Rm.  982  Rev.  4;  prt.  of  etelu 

2 sam-hat  nab-ni-su,  Rev.  6. 

3 [su]-tu-lat  si-ia-su. 

*i-ris  mehi,  “skilled  with  storms.” 

6 us-ta-as-bi-sum-ma,  III2  of  sabu,  to  fix  firmly,  to  prove,  examine.  See  for  this  root  VAB. 
IV  359;  assurn  eklam  {u-bi-im  (II  Inf.),  “ In  order  to  inspect  the  field,”  CT  29,  5,  6.  bit  iluEnlil 
beli-ia  us-te-is-bi-ma,  Messerschmidt,  KTA.  2 III  5,  cf.  II  11,  su-te-is-bi-u  "(which)  had  been 
made  well.”  ana  su-te-is-bi-i,  King,  Bd.  St.  27,  28. 

8 su-us-ku  ma-  -dis. 

7 Genesis  2,  19  f. 

8 u{-na  rapas-tum  n-sak-lil-su  u-su-rat  mdti  kul-lu-mu,  Frag.  Scheil  3. 


40 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


as  well  as  their  outward  material  forms.  The  idea  which  God 
has  of  a thing  constitutes  its  reality,  fixes  its  fate;  its  out- 
ward form  is  the  result  of  this  divine  idea.  To  design  the 
usurtu  of  a thing  is  to  fix  its  fate  ( simtu ) and  to  give  it  a name 
( sumu ).  The  Hebrew  says  that  whatsoever  Adam  called  each 
living  thing  of  the  field  and  each  bird  of  the  sky  that  was  its 
name.1  Philologically  the  Babylonian  word  for  “name,”  sumu 
and  the  Hebrew  cognate  sent,  have  no  connection  with  the  word 
for  “fate,”  simtu,  but  the  Babylonians  regarded  the  name  of 
a thing  as  its  reality.  The  names  of  things  define  the  divine 
concept  of  them,  and  to  name  a thing  practically  means  in 
their  theology  to  determine  its  essence.  The  Hebrew  state- 
ment really  coincides  with  the  Babylonian  statement  concern- 
ing Adapa. 

Ea,  says  our  poem  further,  gave  unto  Adapa  wisdom  but 
not  eternal  life.2  Ea  created  him  like  a sage  among  men.3 
The  Anunnaki,  sons  of  the  water  god  and  divine  spirits  of  the 
waters  of  the  lower  world,  gave  him  his  name.4  The  Biblical 
account  also  represents  Adam  as  a seer  of  great  wisdom  who 
defined  the  names  of  living  things.  The  kind  of  wisdom  which 
he  did  not  have  seems  to  have  consisted  in  the  knowledge  of 
right  and  wrong,  the  consciousness  of  the  distinction  between 
purity  and  impurity,  modesty  and  obscenity.  But  this  limi- 


1 Dp':  Babylonian  sumu,  Arabic  simu,  ismu.  This  word  has  apparently  no  connection 
with  the  verb  □'P',  samu,  Arab,  sama,  to  fix,  determine,  whence  simtu  fate. 

2 Frag.  Scheil,  4. 

3 iluEa  ki-ma  rid-di  ina  a-me-lu-ti  ib-ni-su.  Assyriologists  have  argued  from  this  passage 
that  Adapa  was  not  the  first  man  since  he  is  spoken  of  as  living  among  men.  It  would  not  be 
wise  to  test  a mythological  and  poetic  statement  by  the  strictures  of  logic.  In  any  event  Adapa 
belongs  to  the  first  race  of  men  (see  Dhorme,  158,  12  last  fragment  of  the  Adapa  legend,  where 
Adapa  is  the  fir  ameliiti,  “seed  of  men,’’  “ancestor  of  the  human  race)  and  he  was  created  by 
the  creator  god  Ea. 

4 So  Dhorme,  149  n.  8,  which  see  for  other  views  which  make  Adapa  one  of  the  Anunnaki. 
But  no  passage  mentions  A.  as  a god. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


4' 


tation  should  not  obscure  the  important  fact  that  the  wisdom  of 
Adapa  is  also  in  a large  measure  attributed  also  to  Adam.  And 
the  Hebrew  like  the  Eridu  version  regards  this  hero  as  mortal.1 

The  Babylonian  poem  describes  Adapa  as  one  clean  of 
hands,  a priest  who  anoints,  who  studies  the  divine  instruc- 
tions. He  joined  with  the  bakers  in  preparing  food  for  Eridu. 
He  prepared  the  sacred  table  for  the  cult  of  Enki  and  removed 
it.  He  sailed  on  the  Persian  Gulf  to  catch  fish,  the  trade  of 
Eridu.2  The  Scheil  Fragment  breaks  off  with  the  description 
of  how  Adapa  sailed  out  to  sea  with  a fair  wind,  guiding  his 
ship  with  an  oar.3  The  south  wind,  however,  blew  furiously 
and  threw  him  into  the  sea.4  Whereupon  in  rage  he  broke 
the  wings  of  the  south  wind,  who  for  seven  days  ceased  to  blow. 
Anu  the  heaven  god  sends  his  messenger  to  investigate,  who 
reports  that  Adapa  broke  the  wings  of  the  south  wind.  Upon 
hearing  this  Anu  rose  from  his  throne  and  cried,  “Bring  him 
to  me.’’5  And  so  Ea  knew  that  which  the  heaven  god  said6 
and  he  took  Adapa,  and  caused  him  to  have  boils7  and  clothed 
him  in  a coarse  mourner’s  garment.  Before  his  departure  to 
appear  before  the  heaven  god  Ea  gives  him  the  following 
advice: 

1 Genesis  3,  19. 

2 Fishing  was  naturally  the  important  business  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  seacoast  city. 
The  passage  has  been  generally  misunderstood:  ba’irutu  dakutu  sa  ( al)Eridi  ippus,  “Fishing 
the  trade  of  Eridu  he  practises.”  dakutu  is  a variant  of  dikutu,  literally  “a  summoning,  a call- 
ing.” Cf.  da-ku-ut  sabi-ia  askun,  Messerschmidt,  KTA.  13  I 30. 

3 gimussu,  “oar  or  punt-pole,”  here  used  as  a rudder.  Hardly  “rudder ” in  the  modern  sense. 
Read  ina  ( isu)gi-mus-si-ma , and  for  gis-gi-mus,  belonging  to  the  equipment  of  a ship  see  Gen- 
ouillac,  TSA.  26  Rev.  I.  Without  determinative  gis  in  Allotte  de  La  FuVe  53  V,  offerings 
to  the  gi-mus  of  the  god  Nindar. 

4 a-na  bi-i-tu  be-li-ia  u-sa-am-si-i-el-an-ui,  "(The  south  wind)  caused  me  to  descend  unto 

the  house  of  my  lord;”  see  Dhorme,  Choix,  151  n.  3. 

6 Anu  commands  that  Adapa  be  brought.  This  is  clearly  the  meaning  of  the  passage, 
Knudtzqn,  against  Dhorme,  153,  13. 

6 For  the  text  see  VAB.  II  964,  14.  an-ni-ka-a  lluE-a  sa  same  i-di,  “And  so  Ea  knew  that 
which  was  of  heaven.” 

7 ma-la-a,  1.  15  is  certain  from  K.  8743,  12. 


42 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


“Adapa  before  Anu  the  king  thou  shalt  go. 

[When  thou  takest  the  way  of  heaven],1  when  unto  heaven 
Thou  ascendest,  when  to  the  gate  of  Anu  thou  drawest  nigh, 
At  the  gate  of  Anu,  Tammuz  and  Giszida  will  stand. 

They  will  see  thee,  they  will  question  thee.  ‘Oh  man 
For  whom  are  thou  become  so?  Adapa  for  whom2 
a mourner’s  garment  dost  thou  wear?’  ‘In  our  land  two 
gods  have  disappeared. 


1 Restore,  harran  same  ma  sabati-ka,  from  Rev.  i . 

2 K.  8743  contains  the  ends  of  20  lines  of  the  section  which  describes  the  wrath  of  Anu  and 
the  instructions  of  Ea.  Dhorme  edited  this  fragment,  Choix  156-9,  but  he  was  not  aware  that 
the  lines  originally  contained  much  more  at  the  left.  In  fact  the  Assyrian  version  has  a different 
account  of  Ea’s  intrigue  to  cause  mankind  to  lose  immortality.  My  restorations  are  conjectural. 


1.  [ iluA- nn  a-ma-ia  an-ni-]ii  ina  te- 

rn i-su 

2.  [il-si  na-ra-ru  i-kab-bi  ina  ug-]gat  lib- 

bi-su 

3.  [li-il-gu-ni-su]  mar  sip-ri  i-lap-par 

4.  [ harrana  usasbassnma  ana  tluE-a  m\u- 

du-it  lib-bi  ilani  rabuii 

5.  [la ] PI.  i-bar-rum 

6.  [ su-u  it-ti-bi  a-na  bit  iluE-a[  sar-ri  ka-sa-di 

7.  [ ]ma  a-ma-ti  us-ta-bil 

8.  [ A-da-pa  ik-su-ud-ma  il-ki-]su  a-na  sar-n 

ilu  r-  „ 

b-a 

9 ri  il-tap-pa-a[s-su] 

10.  [ttuE-a  ha-si-su  rap-sa]ii{-ni  mu-du-u 

lib-bi  ilani  rabiiti 

1 1 . [a-na \lame-e  u-kan-sn 

12  ma-la-a  ul-tas-si-su 

13  u-ba-lil-ma  kar-ra  ul-tap-pi-lis-su] 

14.  [te-ma  is-kun-su  a-ma-]la  i-kab-bi-su 

15.  [A-da-pa  a-na  pa-ni  iluA-ni]sar-ri  ai-ta 

ta-lak-ma 

16.  [ te-mi  su-ta-]bil-ma  a-ma-ti  sa-bal 

1 7.  [a-na  sami-e  ina  c-li-ka  a-\na  bdbi  iluA-ni 

ina  te-hi-ka 

18.  [ina  bdbi  iluA-m  lluDumu-{i  u iluGis-{i- 

da]  i{-ia-ai-{u. 


1 When  Anu  heard  this  report, 

2.  he  cried,  Help!  saying  in  the  wrath  of 

his  heart, 

3.  “ Let  them  bring  him  to  me.  A messenger 

he  sends, 

4.  Causing  him  to  take  the  way  unto  Ea, 

knower  of  the  hearts  of  the  great  gods, 

5.  who  investigates  the 

6.  This  one  went  forth  to  come  unto  the 

house  of  Ea,  the  king. 

7.  He and  he  was  much  concerned 

about  the  affair. 

8.  Adapa  he  found  and  took  him  unto  the 

king  Ea. 

9 he  touched  him. 

10.  Ea,  the  wise,  the  intelligent,  knower  of 

the  heart  of  the  great  gods, 

11.  Against  the  of  heaven  he  con- 

firms him. 

12 boils  he  caused  him  to  bear. 

13.  He  with  his  ....  made  foul  and 

clothed  him  with  a mourner’s  garment. 

14.  Advice  he  gave  him,  addressing  him  an 

injunction. 

15.  "Oh  Adapa  thou  goest  before  Anu  the 

king. 

16.  My  advice  think  on  and  keep  my  in- 

junction. 

17.  When  unto  heaven  thou  ascendest,  when 

unto  the  gate  of  Anu  thou  approachest, 

18.  at  the  gate  of  Anu  Tammup  and  Giszida 

will  stand." 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


43 


Therefore  I am  thus  become/  ‘Who  are  the  two  gods 
who  from  the  land 

have  disappeared?’  ‘They  are  Tammuz  and  Giszida.’ 

These  shall  look  at  each  other, 
and  cry  aloud.1  These  a favorable  address 
unto  Anu  shall  speak.  The  beaming  face  of  Anu 
they  shall  cause  thee  to  behold.  When  before  Anu  thou 
standest, 

food  of  death  they  will  hold  out  to  thee; 
not  shalt  thou  eat.  Water  of  death  they  will  hold  out 
to  thee; 

not  shalt  thou  drink.  Clothing  they  will  hold  out  to 
thee; 

clothe  thyself.  Oil  they  will  hold  out  to  thee;  anoint 
thyself. 

The  advice  that  1 gave  thee  not  shalt  thou  neglect. 

The  injunction 

that  I said  to  thee  mayest  thou  hold  fast.” 

Provided  with  this  ruse  to  obtain  the  intercession  of  the  guards 
of  heaven’s  gate,  Adapa  ascends  to  heaven.  In  the  guise  of 
a mortal  attending  the  wailings  for  the  dying  gods  he  excites 
the  compassion  of  these  ascended  deities  who  present  him  to 
Anu.  Without  affording  these  divine  patrons  the  opportunity 
of  interceding  Anu  demands  of  this  mortal  his  reason  for  break- 
ing the  wings  of  the  south  wind.  He  explains  how  this  wind 
upset  his  boat  and  threw  him  into  the  sea.  Here  Tammuz 
and  Giszida  stand  beside  Adapa  and  intercede  for  him.  It 
is  evident  from  what  follows  that  Tammuz  and  Giszida  explained 
to  Anu  that  Ea  had  revealed  wisdom  unto  this  man  and  had 
initiated  him  into  magic  so  that  he  was  able  to  control  the  winds 


1 A root  sahu,  cry,  is  certain  from  CT.  29,  49,  2 kakkadu  naksu  isth,  “a  severed  head  cried 
out.”  These  two  gods  utter  a cry  of  woe  in  memory  of  the  death  which  they  had  suffered  as 
vegetation  gods. 


44 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


by  his  curse.1  He  had  also  taught  him  modesty  and  given 
him  fame.  This  revelation  of  wisdom  had  thus  brought 
him  into  conflict  with  the  gods  for  he  now  possessed  power  to 
oppose  them.  Anger  had  entered  into  his  heart  also  and  had 
caused  him  to  be  violent.  And  so  Anu  pardons  this  mortal 
and  utters  the  following  remarkable  words: 

“Why  has  Ea  to  mankind  impure  the  matters  of  heaven 
and  earth  revealed,  and  a coy  heart2 
created  in  him  and  made  him  a name?” 

The  gods  do  not  appear  to  envy  man  the  wisdom  of  under- 
standing the  realities  of  things  but  the  knowiedge  of  good  and 
evil,  the  sense  of  decency  and  consciousness  of  imperfections. 

The  Eridu  version  claims  that  man  obtained  this  knowl- 
edge by  revelation  from  his  creator  the  wise  Ea  and  that  Anu 
discovered  it  in  the  way  described  above.3  The  Hebrew  ver- 
sion does  not  represent  the  possession  of  philosophical  insight 
into  the  meaning  of  things  as  dangerous  to  man.  Only  the 
consciousness  of  indecency  do  the  gods  envy  him  and  this  he 
obtained  by  eating  of  the  tree  of  the  knowiedge  of  good  and 


1 At  the  end  of  his  speech  Adapa  says  that  in  his  anger  he  cursed  the  south  wind,  at-ta- 
{ci-ar,  see  Dhorme  155,  18.  This  verb  is  used  in  a magical  sense,  see  Muss-Arnolt,  Lexicon, 
661. 

2 li-ib-ba  ka-ap-ra,  “a  covered  heart,”  one  smeared  over  with  cunning,  ruse.  So  I believe 
this  passage  should  be  interpreted.  We  must  look  here  for  a parallel  to  the  result  of  attaining 
wisdom  by  Adam  and  Eve  in  Gen.  3,  7.  “And  the  eyes  of  both  of  them  were  opened  and  they 
knew  that  they  were  naked,  and  they  sewed  together  fig  leaves  and  made  for  themselves  aprons.” 
“A  covered  heart”  1 interpret  to  mean  a heart  ashamed  of  indecency,  a mind  aware  of  imper- 
fections which  man  attempts  to  conceal.  Dhorme  renders  li-ib-ba  ha-ab-ra  "a  strong  heart,” 
but  this  hardly  does  justice  to  the  insight  of  the  passage. 

3 The  story  of  the  breaking  of  the  wings  of  the  wind  is  a clumsy  invention  to  explain  how 
Anu  discovered  that  man  had  attained  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  Nothing  that  Adapa 
had  done  should  have  caused  Anu  to  make  such  inferences.  There  is  also  nothing  in  his 
appearing  as  mourner  for  the  dying  gods  which  could  give  any  cause  for  such  suspicion.  In 
fact  Anu’s  discovery  is  wholly  gratuitous.  The  Adapa  legend  although  it  discusses  the  same 
problems  falls  far  below  the  Nippur  version  as  well  as  the  Biblical  in  literary  imagination.  In 
both  of  the  others  we  have  a real  reason  given  for  the  discovery  of  man’s  illegitimate  knowledge. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


45 


evil.  In  the  main  Hebrew  version  this  results  in  the  loss  of 
Paradise  and  the  entering  into  the  world  of  toil  and  sorrow. 
And  in  the  issue  of  his  disobedience  this  threat  is  fulfilled: 
“ By  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  thou  shalt  eat  bread  until  thou 
returnest  to  the  ground,  for  from  it  thou  wast  taken;  because 
thou  art  dust  and  unto  dust  thou  shalt  return.” 

The  Eridu  version  makes  man  mortal  from  the  beginning, 
or  at  any  rate  credits  him  only  with  extreme  longevity.  When 
the  father  of  the  gods  at  the  gates  of  heaven  discovered  that 
a certain  kind  of  knowledge  had  been  given  unto  him  he  ex- 
pressed concerning  this  revelation  words  from  which  we  may 
perhaps  infer  that  this  wisdom  would  bring  woe  to  mankind. 
Obviously  the  Eridu  teaching  and  the  teaching  of  the  main 
Hebrew  source  are  independent  theological  masterpieces,  both 
attempting  to  explain  the  loss  of  Paradise,  but  both  develop- 
ing an  explanation  upon  similar  independent  lines. 

The  Nippurian  version  in  our  tablet  undoubtedly  starts 
with  the  supposition  that  man  in  Paradise  is  originally  a per- 
fectly moral  being  but  the  problem  as  to  his  ejection  is  obscure. 
I shall  attempt  to  state  the  argument  of  this  version  and  its 
relation  to  the  Eridu  and  Hebrew  versions  subsequently. 

The  Legend  of  Adapa  has  now  a curious  denouement. 
As  in  the  Bible  so  here  the  principle  motive  is  to  explain  how 
mankind  lost  his  boundless  happiness.  After  Anu’s  expression 
of  astonishment  at  the  revelation  of  knowledge  to  man  he 
decides  to  complete  his  likeness  to  the  gods  by  bestowing  upon 
him  immortality; 

“Now  what  shall  we  do  for  him?  Bread  of  life 
offer  to  him,  let  him  eat.”  Bread  of  life 
they  offered  to  him;  not  did  he  eat.  Water  of  life 
they  offered  unto  him;  not  did  he  drink.  Clothing 


46 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


they  offered  him  and  he  clothed  himself.1  Oil 
they  offered  him  and  he  anointed  himself. 

Anu  beheld  him  and  cried  in  astonishment  at  him, 
“Come,  oh  Adapa,  why  hast  thou  not  eaten,  not  drunk? 
Not  shalt  thou  remain  alive.’’ 


And  so  Adapa  is  dismissed  from  the  courts  of  heaven  and 
brought  back  to  earth.  For  the  further  events  in  this  version 
of  the  Fall  of  Man  we  must  depend  upon  a fragment  of  the 
Assyrian  copy  which  does  not  permit  us  to  obtain  a very  clear 
idea  of  the  issue.  The  fragment  belongs  to  the  obverse  of  a 
rather  large  tablet,  consequently  we  know  nothing  about  the 
last  fifty  or  more  lines  of  this  poem.  The  first  lines  contain 
a somewhat  different  phraseology  of  the  scene  in  heaven.  In 
fact  K.  8214  is  a duplicate  of  the  last  lines  of  the  Amarna  or 
Canaanitish  version  but  the  phraseology  differs  so  greatly  that 
scholars  have  failed  to  detect  this  fact.2 


1 sii-n 

2.  [ sam-na ] ik-bi-sum-ma  su-11  ip - 

[pa-sis] 

3.  [su-]ba-ta  ik-bi-sum-ma  su-11  il- 

la-bis 


1 and  he 

2.  Oil  he  commanded  for  him  and 

he  anointed  himself. 

3.  Clothing  he  commanded  for  him 

and  he  clothed  himself. 


1 This  passage  is  parallel  to  the  statement  in  the  Hebrew  where  Jahweh  makes  tunics  of 
skin  for  Adam  and  Eve.  These  passages  follow  immediately  upon  the  loss  of  immortality  in 
both  compositions. 

2 K.  8743,  fragment  of  the  Assyrian  version  transcribed  and  translated  above  page  42  shows 
how  widely  and  materially  the  Assyrian  version  differed  from  the  Canaanitish  found  at  Amarna. 
In  fact  the  Amarna  text  cannot  be  an  Assyrian  or  Babylonian  product  for  it  contains  w:ords 
peculiar  to  Canaanitish;  as  annika  obv.,  14  and  kd  22.  This  text  belongs  to  a version  written 
in  the  Canaanitish  region.  It  differs  so  materially  from  the  Assyrian  that  we  must  assume 
other  serious  divergencies  which  will  be  detected  when  we  recover  more  of  the  text  from  each 
version.  The  striking  similarity  between  the  Canaanitish  text  and  the  Hebrew  proves  that 
the  Western  Semites  developed  an  independent  argument  based  upon  the  Babylonian  material. 
The  serious  disagreement  between  the  Amarna  text  and  the  Assyrian  is  extremely  important 
for  the  whole  problem  of  the  relation  of  Hebrew  sources  to  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian.  Direct 
borrowing  must  be  given  up.  In  fact  the  Canaanites  seem  to  have  developed  Babylonian  tradi- 
tions upon  independent  lines  for  many  centuries  before  the  Hebrews  incorporated  them  into 
their  documents. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


47 


4 ,luA-nu  ana  ep-sit  tluE-a 

sa-kis  i-si-ih-ma  [ igabb'i ) 

5.  [ilani]lsa  sami-e  n irsi-tim  ma-la 

ba-su-u  man-nu  ki-a-am  hi  ik- 
[bt] 

6.  [ ki-]2bit-su  el  ki-ma  ki-bii  ,luA-nu 

man-nu  u-at-tar 

7.  [.  . . ,A-\da3-pa  istu  i-sid  sami-e 

ana  e-lat  sami-e 

8.  [ ip-\pa-lis-ma  pu-luh-ta-su 

i-mur 

9.  [ina  u-\mi4-su  ,luA-nu  sa  A-da-pa 

e-li-su la  is-kun 

10.  [alu]5-ki  sa  ,luE-a  su-ba-ra-su  is- 
kun 

11  ....  gu-us-su  ana  a -kdt  u-me 

ana  su-pi-i  sim-tam  i?-sim ?6 7 

12.  [ina  u-]mi  A-da-pa  % i-ir  a-mi-lu- 

ti 

13.  [ina.  . . ,]ni-su  sal-tis  kap-pi  su- 

u-ti  is-bi-ru 

14.  [ ii\  a-na  sami-e  e-lu-u  si-i  lu-u 

ki-a-am 

15.  [is-]sa-kan  u sa  lim-nis  ana  nise 

is-tak-nu 


4 Anu  because  of  the  deed  of 

Ea  cried  loudly  saying, 

5.  “Of  the  gods  of  heaven  and 

earth  as  many  as  there  be 
who  verily  would  have  com- 
manded thus? 

6.  Who  makes  his  command  to  sur- 

pass the  command  of  Anu?” 

7  Adapa  from  the  horizon  of 

heaven  to  the  zenith  of 
heaven 

8  looked  and  saw  its  gran- 

deur. 

9.  Then  Anu,  as  regards  Adapa, 
upon  him  placed ...  A. 

10.  Of  tbe  city  of  Ea  he  instituted 
sacerdotal  rights8  for  him. 

11 his  priesthood  to  glorify 

unto  far  away  days  as  a 
destiny  be  fixed. 

12.  At  the  time  when  Adapa  the 

seed  of  mankind 

13.  with  bis cruelly  broke  the 

wings  of  the  south  wind, 

14.  and  ascended  to  heaven,  this 

verily  so 

15.  is  issued.  And  whatsoever  of  ill 

this  man  has  brought  upon  men 


l[AN-]M ES.  AN  can  no  longer  be  read  on  the  tablet.  Likewise  in  line  3 all  signs 
before  T A are  now  broken  away.  Strong,  who  copied  this  text  twenty  years  ago,  fortunately 
read  these  signs  before  they  crumbled  away. 

2 No  sign  can  be  seen  before  bit. 

3 DA  is  not  certain  but  possible. 

4 The  end  of  the  sign  mi  can  be  read. 

6 Or  restore  eri-dug-(ki ) = Eridu. 

6 i-sim  is  wholly  uncertain.  1 read  ElT- 

7 The  loss  of  this  word  from  our  text  is  regrettable.  Apparently  Anu  places  upon  Adapa 
some  kind  of  sorrow.  My  collation  has  ^Clr_E  ■ I thought  at  first  to  read  e-li-su-ma 
mi-ta  is-kun,  but  the  traces  are  against  this. 

8 subaru  is  some  kind  of  a religious  privilege  entitling  the  inhabitants  of  certain  cities  to 
the  revenues  of  the  temples  and  freedom  from  national  taxation. 


4§ 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM— BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


1 6.  [ii\  mur-su  sa  ina  {umur  vise 

is-tak-nu 

17.  [su-\a-tum  llatNin-kar-ra-ak  u- 

na-ah-bu 1 

18.  [lit]-bi-ma  si-im-mu  mur-su  lis- 

hur 

19.  [eli  ameli ] su-a-tum  har-ba-su 


lim-ku  -ma 

20  sit-tum  tab-turn  la  i-sal- 

lal 

21  lal  bu-u-du  nu-ug  lib-bi 

vise 

22  DA-bi 


16.  and  the  disease  he  has  brought 

upon  the  bodies  of  men, 

1 7.  the  goddess  Ninkarrak  will  allay 

it. 

18.  May  illness  depart,  may  sick- 

ness turn  aside. 

19.  Upon  this  man  may  his  horror2 

fall. 


20 sweet  sleep  not  shall  he 

enjoy. 

•21 ?,  joy  of  heart  of  men.3 


2 


Unfortunately  this  fragment  allows  no  decision  concern- 
ing the  loss  of  eternal  life  in  the  Assyrian  version.  However, 
we  may  assume  that  it  contained  essentially  the  same  story 
of  Adapa’s  rejection  of  the  bread  and  water.  Nevertheless,  the 
text  preserves  a few  precious  lines  which  show  that  Anu,  father 
of  the  gods,  places  a curse  upon  humanity  because  of  Adapa. 
As  to  whether  these  human  sorrows  were  brought  into  the 
world  because  Adapa  had  surreptitiously  received  the  revela- 
tion of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  or  because  he  had 
refused  the  offer  of  immortality,  our  text  remains  equivocal. 
The  story  of  the  breaking  of  the  wings  of  the  south  wind  is 
a motive  incomparably  less  effective  than  the  scene  of  the  temp- 
tation in  the  Hebrew  story.  The  Eridu  version  both  in  the 
Assyrian  and  Canaanitish  redaction  leaves  little  opportunity 
for  any  wilful  disobedience  on  the  part  of  man.  Yet  his  sin 
is  equally  fatal,  for  he  attained  forbidden  knowledge  and  lost 


1 Sic ! I cannot  explain  the  overhanging  vowel. 

2 barba-sn,  probably  in  the  sense  of  horrible  action,  or  conduct. 

3 This  line  should  refer  to  the  loss  of  happiness  of  mankind  caused  by  Adapa,  but  I can 
find  no  interpretation  for  budii  or  pi'tdn  which  suits  the  context,  budu,  pudu  has  two  meanings, 
"shoulder,”  and  "staff,”  or  "part  of  an  axe.” 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


49 


for  humanity  eternal  life;  through  the  jealous  designs  of  the 
water  god  it  is  true,  and  not  by  his  own  choice,  nevertheless 
the  same  penalty  follows.  Adapa  brought  woe  and  disease 
upon  men,  and  his  own  sorrows  became  the  most  horrible  of 
all.  But  the  gods  send  a patroness  of  medicine  to  heal  man- 
kind; Gula  or  Ninkarrak  in  fact  is  the  goddess  of  healing  par 
excellence  in  Sumero-Babylonian  religion.  On  the  analogy  of 
the  Nippur  version  of  the  text  we  may  suppose  that  this  Eridu 
version  ended  by  describing  the  mission  of  other  patrons  of 
civilization  sent  by  the  great  gods  to  console  humanity. 


The  Nippurian  Version  of  the  Fall  of  Man  on  the 
Tablet  in  the  University  Museum 

In  handling  the  different  teachings  concerning  the  loss  of 
Paradise  we  must,  in  order  not  to  fall  into  grievous  error,  regard 
each  body  of  teaching  as  the  result  of  independent  speculation 
in  different  theological  centers.  At  Eridu  the  catastrophe 
results  almost  wholly  through  intrigues  of  a god.  Man  is 
here  not  a free  agent,  but  the  pawn  of  the  higher  powers.1  All 
the  versions  start  with  the  supposition  that  when  man  was 
created  he  enjoyed  perfect  happiness  in  paradise,  oblivious  to 


1 The  Eridu  teaching  takes  the  view  that  Enki,  the  water  god,  revealed  not  only  theological 
or  mystic  wisdom  unto  Adapa  (to  which  the  other  gods  did  not  object)  but  also  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil,  a possession  he  should  not  have  had  even  for  his  own  good.  And  Enki  appears 
to  have  done  this  out  of  jealousy  of  the  other  gods.  Adapa  was  his  own  creation  to  whom  he 
wished  to  teach  all  wisdom  and  all  knowledge.  We  must,  however,  not  make  too  much  of  the 
Enki  motive.  He  appears  as  a revealing  god  also  in  the  Babylonian  Flood  story  where  he  warns 
Uta-napistim  of  the  plan  of  the  gods  to  destroy  men.  Here  again  he  betrays  the  plans  of  the 
gods  to  man  and  here  for  man’s  good.  In  the  Adapa  legend  Enki’s  revelation  of  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil  seems  to  be  brought  in  solely  as  a means  of  explaining  how  Adapa  acquired  this 
knowledge.  Nevertheless,  all  the  Adapa  versions  agree  in  describing  the  gods  as  jealous  of 
man’s  attaining  immortality  or  of  his  knowing  the  difference  between  good  and  evil. 


50 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


the  existence  of  indecency,  to  the  knowledge  of  right  and 
wrong  and  possessed  of  perfect  health.  The  major  Hebrew 
version  also  concedes  him  great  wisdom  if  I rightly  understand 
it.  The  Nippurian  school  allows  that  men  inhabited  Paradise 
until  the  Flood  which  seems  to  have  been  brought  about  by 
the  creator  god  Enki  because  men  did  not  show  respect  unto 
him.  However  this  may  be,  the  problem  of  the  origin  of  sor- 
row is  not  propounded  in  the  teachings  of  this  school  until 
after  the  Flood.  We  hear  nothing  of  any  famous  forbear  at 
the  beginning  of  things  who  possessed  vast  intelligence.  Only 
after  the  Flood  does  Enki  begin  to  reveal  wisdom  unto  Tag- 
tug  the  gardener.1  And  the  statement  in  regard  to  this  reve- 
lation must  be  taken  with  caution  for  the  text  is  obscure.  It 
is  clear,  however,  that  after  the  Flood  Enki  becomes  intimate 
with  this  gardener.  Our  tablet  is  obscure  regarding  the  orig- 
inal state  of  man  in  respect  to  immortality.  1 infer,  however, 
that,  like  the  theologians  of  Eridu,  it  also  assumes  that  man 
did  not  possess  immortal  life.  In  the  Flood  they  dissolve 
like  tallow,  says  our  text,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reference 
here  to  even  a lost  opportunity  of  attaining  this  infinite 
boon. 

Enki’s  conversation  with  Tagtug  in  the  secret  chamber 
of  the  temple  is  broken  by  a damaged  portion  of  the  tablet 
at  the  top  of  the  second  column  of  the  reverse;  but  shortly 
after  we  read  of  various  plants  which  grew  in  the  garden,  and 


1 This  part  of  the  Nippurian  version  which  makes  7'agtug  a gardener  is  probably  connected 
with  the  account  of  J.  in  Hebrew  which  describes  Noah  as  a gardener  after  the  Flood,  Gen. 
9,  18-27.  The  Hebrew  describes  him  as  the  first  husbandman  and  founder  of  vine  growing. 
In  Hebrew  we  appear  to  have  here  an  attempt  to  alleviate  the  troubles  of  humanity  caused 
by  the  barrenness  of  the  soil  after  God  had  cursed  it.  This  is  the  interpretation  generally  put 
upon  Gen.  5,  29.  The  planting  of  the  vine  is  not  mentioned  in  our  text,  but  the  role  of  Tagtug, 
after  the  Flood  is  obviously  that  of  a patron  of  agriculture  who  redeems  the  earth  made  barren 
by  the  Flood. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


5' 


that  the  mother  goddess  commanded1  Tagtug2  to  take  and  eat 
from  all  except  the  cassia.  We  must  assume  that  the  goddess 
had  placed  this  plant  in  a special  category  after  the  list  of 
plants  from  which  she  allowed  mankind  to  eat.  For  when  we 
reach  the  name  of  the  cassia  the  phraseology  used  in  connec- 
tion with  the  previous  plants  changes,  and  it  is  called  the  plant 
whose  fate  Ninharsag  had  determined.  This  goddess  had  obvi- 
ously forbidden  Tagtug  to  eat  from  the  cassia,  for  immediately 
after  he  takes  and  eats  he  is  cursed  with  human  frailty.  The 
Anunnaki,  who  as  children  of  Enki  were  the  special  friends  of 
the  newly  created  men,3  sat  in  the  dust  to  weep  over  this  dire- 
ful calamity.  Ninharsag  in  rage  regrets  that  she  had  created 
mankind.  In  a broken  passage  at  the  top  of  Rev.  Ill  which 
follows  the  story  of  the  Fall  we  find  Ninharsag  and  the  earth 
god  Enlil  planning  to  send  divine  patrons  to  assist  fallen 
humanity.  Of  this  latter  motif  we  have  a trace  in  the  Eridu 
version  where  Ninkarrak,  i.  e.,  Gula,  is  sent  to  heal  disease 
which  entered  into  the  world  because  Enki  had  revealed  knowl- 
edge unto  Adapa.  The  Nippurian  text  names  eight  divine 

1 mn-na-ab-bi : the  root  bi  is  used  in  the  sense  of  "to  name,  proclaim,’’  only  in  the  syllabar, 
93058  Rev.  7 in  CT.  12,  21.  In  connected  texts  bi  is  invariably  used  in  the  sense  of  "to  speak, 
say,  command,”  Assyr.  kabu.  By  taking  Ninharsag  as  the  subject  and  by  giving  bi  its  ordinary 
meaning  we  have  a sense  in  keeping  with  Genesis  2,  16,  "And  Jahweh  commanded  (lV^)  man, 

saying,  ‘from  every  tree  of  the  garden  thou  shalt  eat,  but  from  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil  thou  shalt  not  eat.’  ” In  the  translation  which  I formerly  gave  out  I interpreted 
mu-na-ab-bi  by  "he  named”  and  took  lugal-mu,  i.  e.,  Tagtug  for  the  subject.  This  of  course 
led  to  the  inference  that  Tagtug  named  the  plants;  I was  influenced  hereby  the  Biblical  narra- 
tive, in  which  Adam  is  said  to  have  given  names  to  all  living  things.  T his  view  is  probably 
erroneous.  The  Sumerian  verb  for  "to  give  a name  to”  is  mu-sa-a  = suma  nabii,  “to  proclaim 
a name,”  or  simply  nabii  to  name.  Cf.  CT.  13,  36,  4:  [ eri]a^ag-ga  kidur  sag-dug-ga-ge-e-ne  mu 
mag-a  mi-ni-in-sa-a  = alu  el-lum  su-bat  tu-ub  lib-bi-su-nu  jz-ns  im-bu-u,  "The  holy  city,  abode 
of  their  hearts’  joy,  he  named  with  a far-famed  name.” 

2 In  Rev.  II  the  name  Tagtug  is  not  mentioned,  but  he  is  referred  to  as  lugal-mu  "my  king,” 
as  in  Obv.  I II  9.  In  fact  this  hero  does  not  receive  the  name  dTag-tug  until  after  the  Flood, 
Rev.  I 36. 

3 Note  also  in  the  Eridu  version  of  the  Fall  that  it  is  the  Anunnaki  who  give  Adapa  his 
name.  See  Dhorme,  Choix  148,  8 and  above  page  40. 


52 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM— BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


patrons;  over  against  these  I here  place  the  patrons  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  Hebrew  (J)  narrative. 


Sumerian. 

1.  Abu,  patron  of  pastures,  and 

flocks.1 

2.  Nintulla,  patroness  of  cattle. 

3.  Nin-KA-uiud  patron(c55?)  of 

health. 

4.  Ninkasi,  patroness  of  the  vine 

and  of  drinking. 

5.  Nail,  patroness  of ? 

6.  Daiima,  patroness  of ? 

7.  Nintil,  patroness  of  femininity. 

8.  Ensagme,  patron  of  wisdom. 


Hebrew. 

1.  Abel,  patron  of  flocks. 

2.  Cain,  patron  of  agriculture.2 

3.  Enoch,  patron  of  city  life. 

4.  ‘Irad.3 

5.  Mehijjael ,4 *  patron  of  health. 

6.  Methushdlah .B 

7.  Lantech ,6  patron  of  psalmody. 

8.  Jabal,  patron  of  tents  and  flocks. 

9.  Jubal,  patron  of  music. 

10.  Tubal-Cain ,2  patron  of  smiths.7 


1 Ab-u  is  a title  of  Tammuz  the  god  of  vegetation  who  dies  for  his  people.  In  early  civil- 
ization the  king  of  a city  or  a human  substitute  was  put  to  death  in  the  cult  of  the  dying  god, 
see  T am mu  1 and  Ishtar  25  f.;  Frazer,  Adonis,  Attis  and  Osiris  84.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how 
the  slaying  of  Abel  by  the  jealous  Cain  in  Gen.  4,  2-16  can  be  based  upon  the  idea  of  a human 
sacrifice  in  honor  of  the  dying  god  of  vegetation.  Nevertheless  the  story  in  Hebrew  seems 
to  have  been  told  to  explain  this  ancient  custom.  In  the  Hebrew  Cain  is  the  founder  of  agri- 
culture (Gen.  4,  26)  and  we  know  that  the  whole  Tammuz  story  arose  in  the  idea  that  a king 
or  man  died  that  agriculture  might  thrive.  Abel,  moreover,  clearly  personifies  the  sheep  neces- 
sary for  sacrifice;  Cain  at  first  offered  only  fruits,  but  Abel  offered  the  first  born  of  animals, 
and  only  the  latter  were  acceptable.  The  killing  of  Abel  appears  to  be  based  upon  the 
ancient  theory  that  a human  being  died  that  the  plants  might  thrive.  Later  arose  the  theory 
that  animals  might  be  substituted  for  this  human  sacrifice,  but  animals  only.  Hence  the 
Cain  and  Abel  story  combines  both  the  ancient  and  the  later  practices.  In  Sumerian  religion 
the  idea  of  the  human,  who  symbolizes  the  dying  vegetation,  becomes  a dying  god  who  returns 
to  earth  as  symbol  of  reviving  vegetation. 

2l’p  in  the  name  Tubal-Cain,  patron  of  the  smiths,  clearly  means,  ‘‘the  smith,”  Arabic 
\ain,  but  in  the  name  of  the  first  son  of  Adam,  the  word  has  probably  no  connection  with  this 
Semitic  root. 

3 So  J.,  Gen.  4,  18;  P.  has  Jered,  Gen.  5,  15. 

4 Or  Mlhouja-il;  P.,  Mahdlal-el.  The  name  is  probably  for  ‘‘God  makes  alive,” 

or  ‘‘God  is  my  enlivener.” 

s So  P.,  Gen.  5,  21:  J.  has  M etbousba-el,  "Man  of  God”(?).  The  correct  reading  is  doubt- 
ful, and  all  interpretations  given  for  both  readings  are  dubious. 

6 Lantech  is  a Hebrew  transcript  of  lumha,  the  Sumerian  title  of  Enki(Ea)  as  patron  of  the 
temple  musicians,  CT.  25,  48,  1 1 ; 24,  43,  120.  See  Babylonian  Liturgies  XXIV  f. 

7 The  last  three  names  appear  to  be  of  western  origin  and  attached  to  the  earlier  Canaan- 
itish  tradition  which  was  obtained  from  Babylon. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


53 


The  Hebrew  regards  these  patrons  as  direct  descendants 
of  the  first  man,  whereas  the  Sumerians  say  that  they  are  of 
divine  origin.  The  Hebrew  list  like  the  Sumerian  follows 
directly  upon  the  story  of  the  Fall.  When  we  consider  that 
the  Nippur  version  also  agrees  with  the  Hebrew  in  making  the 
eating  of  a plant  or  tree  the  direct  cause  of  the  Fall  of  Man> 
it  becomes  evident  that  the  Hebrew  has  been  greatly  influenced 
by  the  doctrines  of  the  Nippur  school. 

Our  text  describes  the  curse  only  in  one  line:  “The  face 
of  life  until  he  dies  not  shall  he  see.’’1  “Life’’  in  Sumerian 
means  “good  health,’’  and  we  can  hardly  be  wrong  in  under- 
standing this  passage  to  mean  that  the  great  sorrow  caused 
by  the  Fall  is  bodily  weakness  and  rapid  decay.  In  Adapa’s 
fall  we  read  only  of  the  bodily  miseries  which  entered  the 
world.  The  Hebrew  too  mentions  the  pain  of  woman  in  child- 
birth as  the  first  of  human  woes.2  Neither  the  Nippur  nor 
the  Adapa  version  mentions  the  ejection  from  Paradise.3  Per- 
haps this  part  of  the  story  is  peculiar  to  the  Hebrew.  Human 
sorrow,  toil  and  misery  surely  afflicted  men  in  the  land  of  Dil- 
mun  which  the  Sumerians  and  Babylonians  knew  so  well.  The 
ejection  at  all  events  points  no  moral  to  the  tale. 

The  Nippur  text  represents  the  Fall  as  following  directly 
upon  eating  of  the  cassia.  No  revelation  of  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil  is  mentioned.  The  curse  of  Ninharsag  seems 
to  be  caused  by  disobedience  and  this  is  the  sole  motif  we  can 

1 The  verb  ba-ra-an-bar-ri-en,  Rev.  II  38,  may  be  sec.  per.  sing.,  since  the  ending  e-\-n  could 
well  be  an  emphatic  form  of  the  sec.  per.  ending  e;  cf.  be-ib-si-il-e,  Var.  im-si-il-li-en=tusallit, 
SBP.  198,  15.  But  the  verb  ba-dig-gi-a  which  must  have  the  same  subject  is  in  the  third  per. 
It  is  better  to  regard  e-\-n  as  an  emphatic  3d  per.  future.  Sum.  Gr.  §§223  f. 

2 Gen.  3,  16.  Naturally  the  Eridu  doctrine  may  have  mentioned  other  sorrows  like  the 
Hebrew  in  the  last  lines  of  the  Adapa  legend  which  breaks  off  at  the  point  disease  is  mentioned. 

3 The  Nippur  text  infers  that  after  the  Flood  the  earth  was  barren  and  needed  irrigation,  so 
that  we  may  conclude  that  this  school  believed  that  the  deluge  ended  the  blissful  state  of 
Paradise.  Only  disease  and  brevity  of  life  had  not  yet  entered  the  world. 


54 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


read  into  this  the  earliest  of  all  doctrines  on  the  Fall  of  Man. 
The  plant  in  question  if  connected  with  either  of  the  two  trees 
mentioned  in  the  composite  narrative  of  the  Bible  must  be 
identified  with  the  tree  of  life.  Our  text  has  am-ga-ru  before 
which  the  determinative  for  plant  {u)  must  be  supplied.  This 
is  clearly  identical  with  am-ga-ra,  or  Semitic  kasu,  cassia,  the 
most  important  of  all  medical  plants  in  antiquity.1  It  is,  how- 
ever, not  necessary  to  assume  that  the  pundits  of  Nippur,  or 
the  myth  makers  of  early  Sumer  regarded  the  cassia  as  a plant 
capable  of  bestowing  eternal  life  upon  those  who  ate  its  fruit 
or  chewed  its  leaves.  I he  Hebrew  undoubtedly  knew  of  such 
a plant  and  the  same  legend  appears  in  the  Assyrian  Epic  of 
Gilgamish.2  Since  Tagtug  actually  ate  from  the  cassia  and 
consequently  brought  disease  into  the  world,  the  plant  could 
not  have  been  regarded  as  a “tree  of  life,”  in  the  sense  of  the 
later  Assyrian  and  Hebrew  legends.  Undoubtedly  the  Sume- 
rians regarded  the  cassia  as  having  marvelous  healthgiving 
properties,  but  I do  not  believe  that  we  have  here  any  theory 
concerning  a plant  capable  of  bestowing  immortality.  The 
theory  taught  by  the  early  Sumerian  sages  seems  to  be  as 
follows:  Man  in  Paradise  had  perfect  health,  extreme  lon- 
gevity,3 and  lived  peacefully  without  toil.  For  some  reason 
not  explained  to  us  he  failed  to  show  respect  to  Enki  his  creator, 
and  hence  all  but  a few  pious  were  destroyed.  In  this  universal 
deluge  Paradise  also  disappears  and  thereafter  man  must  live 
by  toil.  Wherefore  after  the  deluge  Tagtug  becomes  a gar- 
dener, a human  raised  to  the  station  of  a god,  for  he  has  now 


1 See  PSBA.  1914,  192. 

2 One  of  the  main  motifs  in  this  epic  is  the  search  for  the  plant  whose  name  is,  “The  old 
man  shall  be  made  young.’’  The  legend  of  a tree  or  plant  capable  of  bestowing  immortality 
occurs  only  here  in  Babylonia  and  is,  I believe,  of  comparatively  late  origin. 

3 See  obverse  I 24  f. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


55 


this  title.1  The  problem  of  the  origin  of  sin  does  not  concern 
them.  They  put  forward  no  theory  in  regard  to  it,  their  only 
teaching  in  this  regard  is  that  sin  is  a purely  religious  matter. 
It  consists  in  disrespect  toward  the  gods  and  in  nothing  more 
or  less.  But  the  Flood  eliminates  all  the  wicked.  After  the 
deluge  Tagtug,  and  we  presume  his  pious  mariners,  continued 
a different  life  in  Paradise.2  The  earth  had  now  become  hostile, 
wherefore  the  survivor  of  the  deluge  became  a tiller  of  the  soil. 
Such  was  the  explanation  of  the  loss  of  Paradise.  But  a more 
serious  misfortune  was  now  to  follow,  namely  the  entrance  of 
disease  and  abbreviated  mortality.  To  explain  this  the  sages 
of  Nippur  taught  that  the  mother  goddess  had  forbidden  man 
to  eat  from  the  cassia.  This  command  he  disobeyed  and  lost, 
as  we  have  seen,  pre-diluvian  longevity.  They  do  not  appear 
to  have  held  any  views  concerning  mystic  powers  which  this 
plant  might  bestow,  so  that  the  interdiction  of  the  cassia  is 
wholly  arbitrary.  As  our  text  stands  the  only  reason  for  this 
injunction  seems  to  be  that  of  testing  the  obedience  of  man. 
I fail  to  find  any  other  meaning  here.  In  a sense  the  mother 
goddess  is  the  temptress  who  caused  this  great  disobedience. 

Have  we  here  the  origin  of  the  temptation  of  Adam  by 
his  wife  Eve?  We  know  that  Eve  like  Ninharsag  was  originally 
an  ophidian  mother  goddess.  Has  this  led  further  to  the  Hebrew 
story  concerning  the  serpent?  In  Hebrew  mythology  the 
ophidian  as  well  as  the  goddess  character  of  Eve  seems  to  have 
been  lost  sight  of.  Perhaps  her  serpent  origin  is  retained  in 

1 The  fact  that  Tagtug  has  the  divine  title  is  here  to  be  explained  by  the  Sumerian  habit 
of  raising  kings  to  the  rank  of  the  gods  during  their  reigns.  This  custom  became  established 
during  the  period  of  the  Ur  dynasty  several  centuries  before  our  tablet  was  written.  It  can 
not  have  the  same  sense  as  the  translation  of  Utanapistim  to  the  lands  of  the  blessed  where 
he  attained  immortality. 

2 Also  the  Biblical  narrative  P.  Gen.  1-2,  4b+5+6,  g fS.,  knows  of  no  expulsion  from  Para- 
dise, but  in  the  days  of  Noah  the  world  became  full  of  violence  and  wickedness,  wherefore  Jahweh 
sent  the  deluge.  (Gen.  5,  29  is  taken  from  J.) 


56 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


the  peculiar  form  in  which  we  know  it  there.  Suppose  that 
the  general  tradition  obtained  that  a serpent  goddess  placed 
this  daring  temptation  before  man.  Suppose  that  by  the 
involved  crossing  of  ideas  in  the  evolution  of  this  legend  the 
goddess  became  the  consort  of  this  sorely  tried  ancestor  of 
man.  Evidently  the  serpent  alone  would  be  left  to  figure  as 
the  tempter.  Such  seems  to  be  the  probable  construction  we 
must  place  upon  this  story.  Here  it  has  a doctrinal  aspect. 
The  sages  of  Nippur  solve  these  problems  with  the  minimum 
of  mythological  structure.  The  temptation  does  not  appear  in 
their  sacred  books.  But  obviously  imaginative  folklore  sought 
at  once  to  restore  the  old  motifs,  if  in  fact  they  had  ever  given 
them  up.  It  is  conceivable  that  to  these  expounders  of  Sume- 
rian theology  the  story  of  a goddess  temptress  was  current 
mythology.  In  any  case  their  theories  about  the  origin  of 
toil,  the  hostility  of  nature  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  origin  of 
bodily  weakness  on  the  other  are  based  upon  views  wholly 
different  from  those  taught  in  the  legend  of  Adapa.  They 
place  the  whole  guilt  upon  man  as  a free  agent.  They  do  not 
represent  the  gods  as  envying  him  knowledge  of  any  kind. 
Here  man  from  the  beginning  passed  from  catastrophe  to 
catastrophe  because  he  himself  failed  to  have  the  indexible 
will  to  obey  the  gods. 

The  Hebrew  Tradition 

The  oldest  Hebrew  document  which  traces  the  history  of 
man  from  his  creation  to  the  days  of  Terah  and  Abraham,1 
or  the  mythological  and  theological  reconstruction  of  their 

'This  document  is  roughly  as  follows:  Gen.  2,  4b-4+5,  19+6,  1-4+6,  5-8+7,  1-12  + 

1 6—  1 7+22  f+8,  6+12+20-22+9,  18-27+H,  1-9+28-30.  For  minutiae  of  textual  division 
see  the  commentaries  on  Genesis. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


57 


history  when  analyzed  will  be  found  to  be  another  product 
evolved  from  the  Babylonian  doctrines.  Here  the  loss  of 
Paradise  and  the  entrance  into  the  world  of  disease  to- 
gether with  the  hostility  of  nature  to  man  follow  shortly 
after  his  creation.  He  appears  to  have  enjoyed  the  peace  of 
Paradise  for  only  a brief  period.  For  in  his  Paradise  the  creator 
God  had  placed  a tree  called  the  “Tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil.”  But  Adam  like  Adapa  was  initiated  into  the 
most  profound  philosophical  knowledge.  In  wisdom  he  lacked 
only  the  awareness  of  indecency.  Otherwise  his  knowledge 
equaled  that  of  the  gods.  This  kind  of  knowledge  could  be 
obtained  by  eating  from  this  tree,  a fact  which  he  did  not  know. 
And  his  creator  added  the  threat  that  in  the  day  of  his  eating 
thereof  he  would  fall  a victim  to  disease.1  Then  a woman  is 
created  for  his  consort  to  whom  a serpent  reveals  the  true 
meaning  of  the  forbidden  tree.  She  ate  and  she  gave  also  to 
her  husband,  whereupon  their  eyes  were  opened  and  they  lost 
their  innocence.  Whereupon  woman  is  afflicted  with  the 
pangs  of  childbirth  and  subserviency  to  man.  And  for  man 
God  cursed  the  earth,  whereby  he  henceforth  lived  only  by 
toil.  Both  are  expelled  from  Paradise. 

Theologically  this  story  is  a masterly  combination  of  the 
Eridu  doctrine,  known  to  us  only  in  the  Semitic  legend  of 
Adapa,  and  the  doctrines  of  our  Nippur  tablet.  The  Adapa 
legend  has  influenced  the  Hebrew  particularly  in  causing  the 
Fall  to  be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  civilization  and  in  attrib- 
uting the  origin  of  disease  to  the  forbidden  possession  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  In  Adapa’s  case  temptation  does 


1,1  Dying  thou  shait  die,”  Gen.  2,  17,  obviously  refers  to  the  beginning  of  bodily  weakness 
and  attenuated  mortality.  The  Babylonian  verb  matu,  cognate  to  the  Hebrew  verb  employed 
here,  is  often  employed  in  this  sense. 


58 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


not  figure  in  the  problem.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Nippur 
teaching  has  given  them  the  idea  of  a tree,  which  under  influence 
of  the  Eridu  school  they  construct  into  a tree  of  knowledge. 
For  given  on  the  one  hand  the  doctrine  that  man  of  his  own 
wilful  disobedience  ate  of  the  fruit  of  a tree,  and  on  the  other 
that  his  fall  was  due  to  the  revelation  of  knowledge,  the  ancients 
inevitably  formed  a legend  regarding  a tree  of  knowledge. 
Moreover,  the  idea  of  temptation  latent,  and  innocently  so  in 
the  Nippur  doctrine,  here  becomes  an  important  factor.  The 
sin  is  explained  not  alone  as  a wilful  act  but  as  the  act  of  a will 
overcome  by  the  cajolery  of  woman.  This  factor  is  original 
in  Hebrew.  The  idea  of  a woman  tempter  in  Sumerian  is 
wholly  different.  Here  she  is  the  ophidian  mother  goddess 
who  places  temptation  before  man  only  in  that  she  forbids 
him  to  eat  to  test  his  obedience.  But  as  we  have  seen  the 
Nippurian  doctrine  based  probably  upon  a richer  and  more 
concrete  mythology  easily  gave  rise  to  the  serpent  tempter 
and  the  woman  in  Hebrew. 

In  the  ultimate  analysis  of  the  origin  of  human  suf- 
fering the  Hebrew  like  the  tablet  No.  4561  traces  its  cause 
to  man’s  own  frailty.  His  wavering  will  fails  to  comply  with 
the  plain  injunctions  of  deity.  We  have  in  neither  document 
any  trace  of  divine  jealousy,1  nor  any  erroneous  action  whose 
cause  could  be  traced  to  superior  instigation  as  in  the  Adapa 
teaching. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  seem  to  have  an  equally  ancient 
Hebrew  document  embedded  in  the  text  of  Genesis  2 and  3 
which  incorporated  more  clearly  the  teachings  of  Eridu.  Here 
in  a gloss  in  verse  9 of  chapter  2 we  hear  of  a tree  of  life. 

1 The  serpent  accuses  God  of  jealousy  (3,  5)  but  this  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  doctrine 
held  by  the  author  of  J. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


59 


And  at  the  end  of  chapter  2 we  again  come  upon  traces  of  this 
document  which  knows  of  the  same  tree  forbidden  in  Paradise. 
"And  Jahweh  Elohim  said,  ‘Lo,  man  has  become  like  one  of 
us  in  knowing  good  and  evil  and  now  lest  he  put  forth  his 
hand  and  take1  from  the  tree  of  life  and  eat  and  live  forever.’ 
And  so  he  drove  out  the  man  and  caused  him  to  dwell  east 
of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  he  stationed  the  cherubim,  the 
flaming  sword  which  revolves  to  guard  the  way  of  the  tree 
of  life.” 

This  document  probably  adopted  the  Eridu  teaching  con- 
cerning the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  attributing  it  to  a sur- 
reptitious revelation  by  a god.  Here  too  the  gods  envy  man 
this  knowledge  and  take  steps  at  once  to  prevent  his  attain- 
ing immortality.  The  Eridu  school  also  raise  the  problem  of 
man’s  loss  of  immortality  in  connection  with  his  acquisition 
of  knowledge.  It  is,  therefore,  reasonable  to  suppose  that  a 
Hebrew  document  which  depended  upon  that  source,  would  raise 
the  same  problem.  Now  this  teaching  regarding  eternal  life  for 
man  is  late  in  Babylonia.  Such  a thing  could  not  occur  as 
possible  in  the  Sumerian  schools  whose  whole  attitude  toward 
man  regarded  him  as  dust  of  the  earth  to  which  he  must  inevit- 
ably return.  But  a longing  after  this  priceless  boon  gave  rise 
to  that  widespread  belief  that  after  all  the  gods  possess  bread 
and  water  which  bestow  eternal  life,  or  that  in  some  far  away 
Paradise  grows  an  herb  of  healing  to  infuse  mortals  with  im- 
mortality. In  Babylonian  tradition  this  plant  was  well  known, 
and  the  same  idea  traveled  westward  to  the  Hebrews.  They 
too  adopted  this  same  theory  that  man  lost  immortality  through 

1 The  MT.  has  here  DJI,  “also”  which  implies  in  the  same  source  also  a tree  of  knowl- 
edge. The  Septuagint  and  the  Syriac  texts  omit  DJ  and  this  is  surely  the  correct  text. 
It  then  follows  that  D'*nn  “tree  of  life”  in  2,  9 stands  in  a false  position  there  and  has 
deranged  the  text. 


6o 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


the  jealousy  of  the  gods;  here  by  being  expelled  from  Eden 
before  they  proceeded  to  eat  from  the  tree  of  life,  there  because 
a jealous  god  had  advised  his  protege  not  to  partake  of  the 
bread  of  life. 

I he  story  of  early  Hebrew  origins  as  told  by  the  priests 
of  a later  age  speaks  of  no  Paradise  and  mentions  no  sin  until 
the  days  of  Noah.1  We  may  infer,  ex  silentio,  however,  that 
this  document  supposed  that  in  the  long  ages  ruled  over  by 
the  ten  patriarchs  men  lived  in  a sinless  state  enjoying  extreme 
longevity.  According  to  this  narrative,  in  the  days  of  the 
tenth  patriarch  the  world  became  full  of  violence,  wherefore 
God  destroyed  all  but  this  patriarch  and  his  family  in  the 
deluge.  This  scheme  of  the  priestly  writer  agrees  with  the 
theologians  of  Nippur.  That  Hebrew  narrative  makes  the  Flood 
begin  on  the  17th  day  of  the  second  month,  the  text  of  tablet 
No.  4561  on  the  1st  of  the  first  month.  There  it  rises  five 
months2  and  recedes  until  the  27th  of  the  second  month  of  the 
next  year,  in  all  one  year  and  ten  days;  here  the  flood  endures 
eight  months  and  nine  days.  Thus  the  priestly  narrative 
approximately  agrees  with  the  tablet  No.  4561  in  the  chronol- 
ogy of  the  Flood.  On  the  other  hand,  the  older  Hebrew  story 
makes  the  waters  rise  40  days  and  recede  21  days,  a much 
shorter  period.  This  chronology  agrees  more  closely  with  that 
of  the  Semitic  Babylonian  story  where  the  waters  increase  six 
days  and  cease  the  seventh.  At  a distance  of  twelve  double 
hours  march3  Utanapistim  sees  the  top  of  a mountain.  The 
time  taken  to  reach  it  is  not  given,  but  after  the  landing  he 
waits  seven  days  to  send  forth  a dove.  Since  he  sends  two 

‘Gen  1-2,  4 a+5+6,  2-22. 

2 One  hundred  and  fifty  days. 

3 That  is  obviously  the  meaning  of  the  Babylonian  poem;  see  Dhorme,  Cboix  113  note  on 
line  140, 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


6l 


other  birds  at  intervals  we  suppose  that  seven  days  separated 
these,  so  that  we  have  the  same  story  as  that  of  the  ancient 
(J)  narrative  in  Genesis  8,  6-12,  where  Noah  sends  three 
birds  at  intervals  of  seven  days  each.  Hence  we  have  on 
the  one  hand  the  long  chronology  of  the  Sumerian  account  and 
the  priestly  Hebrew  narrative,  and  on  the  other  the  short  chro- 
nology of  the  Babylonian  version  and  the  ancient  Hebrew  docu- 
ment. In  a sense  the  revelation  of  wisdom  to  Tagtug  the  gardener 
in  the  tablet  No.  4561  is  parallel  to  instructions  which  God 
reveals  to  Noah  in  the  priestly  document.1  Both  conversa- 
tions follow  immediately  after  the  Flood.  If  the  priest’s  nar- 
rative in  Hebrew  knew  of  any  further  story  of  the  disobedience 
and  loss  of  continued  good  health  which  should  follow  here 
he  has  left  us  no  trace  of  it.  Nevertheless  his  close  adherence 
to  the  theories  of  the  Nippur  school  is  clear  enough.  After 
the  Flood  he  fills  in  the  history  from  that  event  to  the  age  of 
Abraham  by  a genealogy  of  nine  patriarchs,  whose  lives  are  of 
considerable  length.2  Nevertheless  even  here  we  have  a rapid 
decline  in  longevity  and  the  ages  of  these  are  on  the  whole 
less  by  half  than  those  of  the  ten  patriarchs  before  the  deluge. 
The  Babylonians  also  told  of  the  incredible  ages  of  the  heroes 
before  this  catastrophe.  We  are,  I believe,  on  safe  grounds 
in  assuming  that  in  agreement  with  the  sages  who  wrote  our 
epic  of  the  Fall  of  Man  there  was  in  Babylonia  a deeply 
rooted  tradition  that  the  greatest  of  all  catastrophes,  the  loss 
of  long  life,  overtook  mankind  only  after  he  had  lived  in  Para- 
dise for  many  ages.  Such  I believe  to  have  been  the  doctrine 
adopted  by  the  scribe  to  whom  we  owe  the  priestly  narrative  in 

1 Gen.  9,  1-8. 

2 Gen.  11,  10-26.  Omitting  Shem  who  belongs  to  the  race  before  the  Flood,  we  have 
Arpaksad  438  years,  Shelah  433,  ‘Eber  464,  Peleg  239,  Re‘u  239,  Serug  230,  Nahor  148,  and 
Terah  205.  (Masoretic  text;  Samaritan  and  Greek  differ  slightly.) 


62 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


Hebrew.  He  surely  pursued  his  investigations  beyond  the  Sem- 
itic poems  of  Babylonia,  rehearsed  by  the  Canaanites  before  the 
Hebrew  occupation.  He  must  have  come  under  the  influence 
of  the  great  Babylonian  renaissance  which  set  in,  in  the  middle 
of  the  seventh  century;  an  age  when  the  scholars  of  Babylon 
studied  the  theological  systems  of  their  remote  past.  The 
theologians  of  Nippur  particularly  attracted  them  as  we  know 
from  their  corpus  of  temple  liturgies.1  The  tablet  which  forms 
the  subject  of  this  volume  proves  the  profundity  of  their  think- 
ing in  the  region  of  ethics  and  philosophy.  We  venture  to  think 
that  no  document  has  yet  been  recovered  from  the  ruins  of 
the  past  to  which  such  a volume  of  influence  can  be  traced 
from  our  own  civilization  for  the  immense  period  of  four  thou- 
sand years.  The  great  Hebrew  documents,  which  propound 
the  harassing  problem  of  the  origin  of  human  sorrows,  would 
have  been  impossible  without  the  pious  and  scholarly  teach- 
ing of  these  pre-Semitic  poets  of  Nippur.  And  we  all  realize, 
perhaps  too  little,  the  incalculable  influence  which  these  Hebrew 
masterpieces  have  exercised  upon  the  ethical  and  religious  men- 
tality of  a considerable  portion  of  the  human  race. 

The  Babylonian  Tradition  Concerning  the  Pre- 
diluvian  Period 

Old  Testament  critics  speak  of  Gen.  4,  16-23  (J-)  as  the 
Cainite  genealogy,2  and  the  ten  patriarchs  of  Gen.  5 (P.)  as 
the  Sethite  genealogy.  The  earlier  list  of  the  J.  document 
with  its  seven  patriarchs  is  obviously  based  upon  the  Sumero- 


1 See  the  Introduction  to  the  author's  Babylonian  Liturgies. 

2 For  genealogical  purposes  Abel  is  not  included  in  this  list.  But  when  the  list  is  understood 
in  its  true  perspective,  Abel  must  be  included,  since  this  document  places  upon  him  the  role  of 
patron  of  flocks  and  originator  of  animal  sacrifice. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


63 


Babylonian  tradition  of  divine  patrons  of  industries.  The  early 
Hebrew  legend  constructed  these  into  a genealogy.  The 
Sethite  genealogy  of  the  later  P.  document  although  employing 
all  of  the  seven  earlier  patron  names,  except  for  obvious  reasons 
Abel,  in  more  or  less  modified  forms  and  in  slightly  different 
order  has,  as  is  well  known,  attempted  to  reproduce  the  Babylo- 
nian scheme  of  ten  legendary  kings  who  ruled  during  the  432,000 
years  before  the  Flood.  The  Babylonian  kings  in  this  legend 
were  not  all  divine  patrons  but  some  were  famous  mythological 
rulers  who  belong  to  that  period  of  longevity  before  the  Fall  of 
Man.  The  Hebrew  in  both  documents  has  thoroughly  trans- 
formed the  Babylonian  sources.  The  list  in  Gen.  5 reproduces, 
it  is  true,  the  spirit  of  the  Babylonian  legend  of  the  ten  kings, 
in  that  it  holds  them  to  be  rulers  in  a long  dynasty  and  largely 
misunderstands  those  who  had  a connection  with  the  arts.1  In 
fact  this  genealogy  has  largely  replaced  the  names  of  the  Baby- 
lonian by  the  names  of  Hebrew  patrons  of  civilization,  whose 
meanings  were  clear  to  J.,  but  wholly  misunderstood  by  the 
authors  of  P.  This  Babylonian  list  which  is  preserved  only  in 
the  fragments  of  Berossus2  seems  to  contain  both  Sumerian  and 
Semitic  names.  I translate  so  far  as  possible  in  order  to  show 
that  they  are  not  all  based  upon  the  idea  of  patrons  of  the 
arts  ; 

1.  VA \wpo9,  Alorus,  of  Babylon,  a Chaldean.  Source 
unknown.3  Reigned  36,000  years. 


1 Note  how  P.  changes  Mehijjael,  a name  connected  with  healing,  into  Mabalal-el,  “Praise 
of  God.”  For  Cain  which  at  least  in  Gen.  4,  22  means  a “smith,”  P.  has  Kenan,  probably  a 
word  having  no  connection  with  Kayin,  Cain,  'irad,  surely  a Sumerian  or  Babylonian  word 
for  some  craft,  is  distorted  to  Y ered,  “descent.” 

2 See  Cory,  Ancient  Fragments,  30  f. 

3 Hardly  connected  with  the  mother  goddess  Artiru  as  asserted  by  Hommel  and  Jeremias. 
The  name  is  Sumerian. 


64 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


2.  ’A\ct7ra/)o5,  Alaparus.  Probably  for  Adaparus,  Adapa, 
a Sumerian,* 1  a sage.'2  Reigned  10,800  years. 

3.  ’AfnjXcov,  Amelon,3  of  Pantibiblus  (z.  c.,  Sippar?).  This 
name  is  Semitic,  Babylonian  amelu,  “man.”4  Reigned  46,800 
years. 

4.  'AfjLfxevaiv,  Ammenon,  the  Chaldean.5  This  name  is 
probably  from  nmmanu ,6  “skilled  workman,”  and  is  the  only 
name  in  this  list  which  clearly  suggests  connection  with  divine 
patrons  of  culture.  Reigned  43,200  years. 

3.  MeyaXapos,7  of  Pantibiblus.  Reigned  64,800  years. 

6.  Aaaji'o?,  Daonus,8  a shepherd  of  Pantibiblus,  Reigned 
36,000  years.  The  Greek  calls  him  a shepherd,  which 

suggests  perhaps  that  the  Babylonians  have  preserved  here  the 
name  of  a patron  of  flocks,  like  Abu  of  our  text  or  Abel  of  the 
Hebrew.  The  shorter  form  of  the  word  Dads,  preserved  in 


‘Obviously  the  same  Adapa  of  Eridu  who  in  the  legend  of  Adapa  is  credited  with  being 
the  ancestor  of  mankind.  For  this  reason  Sayce , Florilcgium  Melchior  De  Pogue  544,  has  read 
A-DA-PA  as  A-da-mu.  In  tact  a Neo-Babylonian  syllabar,  ZA.  9,  163  IV  6,  says  that  the  sign 
PA  has  the  value  mu  in  the  dialect  TE-NAD.  Of  course  we  might  expect  the  Hebrew  to  have 
borrowed  the  name  Adapa  as  well  as  the  legend,  but  I remain  unconvinced  as  in  my  note  Tam- 
mu{  and  Ishtar,  32  f.  DTN,  “man,”  and  UOTN,  “earth,”  obviously  belong  together,  and  1 
am  sure  that  ddhama  cannot  be  defended  as  Sumerian.  Moreover,  the  Sumerian  reading  A-da-pa 
is  proven  by  the  writing  A-DA-PA D,  i.  e.,  A-da-pa(d),  hence  A-da-pa,  as  it  occurs  in  the  legend, 
is  an  abbreviation  for  Adapad.  A-da-pad  ahkal  Eridi,  “Adapa  the  sage  of  Eridu,”  IV  R.  58 

1 24;  here  he  is  regarded  as  a divine  magician;  cf.  ZA.  16,  170,  24.  Senecherib  says  that  Ea 
gave  him  vast  intelligence  and  sin-na-at  abkalli  A-da-pad,  “the  likeness  of  the  sage  Adapa,” 

Lay.  38,  4.  Asurbanipal  says  that lu  ab-kal-li  A-da-pad  alm^,  “ 1 learned  the  ....  of  the 

sage  Adapa,”  Lehmann,  Sham.  L.4  PI.  34,  13.  Sargon  also  says  that  he  is  a king  with  the  sin- 
na-at  abkalli,  “likeness  of  the  sage,”  Sarg.  Cyl.  38.  In  Harp.  Lett.  923,  8 abkallu  u A-da-pad, 
"sage  and  an  Adapa”  are  titles  of  a king.  Hence  Adapa  was  renowned  in  mythology  as  the 
wisest  of  men. 

2 Hommel,  PSBA.  1893,  243. 

3 Var.  Abydenus  ’A/xtAAapos  ; Armenian  ed.  of  Eusebius  Almelon. 

4 Hommel,  ibid. 

5 Abydenus  says  he  was  from  Pantibiblus. 

6 Hommel,  PSBA.  1893,  244  ummanu  is  a loan-word  in  Semitic  from  Sumerian. 

7 Var.  of  Abydenus  in  Syncellus  Codex  Par.  MeyaAavos.  Armenian  Amegalarus. 

8 Abydenus,  Acuos. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


65 


Abydenus  may  perhaps  stand  for  Aaws  j1  we  have  already 
assumed  a confufsion  of  this  kind  in  Adapa(d)  = Alaparus. 
Laos  by  interchange  of  liquids  l>r  might  revert  to  an  older 
Raos;  there  would  then  be  no  difficulty  in  seeing  in  this  name 
the  Babylonian  reu,  Hebrew  roe  “shepherd.” 

7.  EveS uipaxos,  Euedorachus  of  Pantibiblus.2  Doubt- 
lessly identical  with  the  Sumerian  mythical  sage  Enmeduranki, 
king  of  Sippar,  to  whom  the  oracular  gods  Shamash  and  Adad 
revealed  the  mysteries  of  divination;  said  to  have  been  created 
by  Ninharsag  herself.3  The  name  is  pure  Sumerian,  and  means 
“Lord  of  the  decrees  of  the  totality  of  heaven  and  earth.” 
Reigned  64,800  years. 

8.  ’A ne[j.\jjLv6<;,  Amempsinus,  a Chaldean  from  Laranchae, 
i.  e.,  Larak.4  Reigned  36,000  years.  Generally  regarded  as 
Semitic  for  Amel-Sin,  “Man  of  Sin,”5  but  I doubt  this.  The 
name  must  be  of  great  antiquity  and,  originating  in  a Sumerian 
center,  should  be  Sumerian.  Sin,  the  name  of  the  moon  god, 
is  also  a somewhat  late  Sumerian  contraction  for  the  earlier 
iu-en.  However,  no  better  suggestion  has  been  made.6 

9.  ’ClTrdpTr}<;,  Opartes,7  a Chaldean  of  Laranchae.  Reigned 
28,800  years.  Berossus  makes  Opartes  the  father  of  Xisuthrus, 
hero  of  the  Flood.  According  to  the  Babylonian  version  the 


'A  connection  with  Babyl.  le’u,  "wise,  intelligent,”  would  be  probable,  if  we  assume  this 
to  be  original. 

‘ Abydenus,  EueSoupecr^o?,  ’AtSajpecr^os  ; Armenian.  Eusebius,  Edoranchus. 

3 See  Zimmern,  Ritual  Tafeln,  No.  24,  for  the  identification  and  the  text  which  describes 
the  origin  of  divination  through  the  hero  En-me-dur-an-ki. 

4 A city  of  great  antiquity  mentioned  in  the  Creation  Epic,  and  located  by  Poebel,  after  a 
passage  in  Clay,  PBS.  Vol.  II  No.  181,  7,  on  the  old  Tigris  southeast  of  Nippur.  See  Poebel, 
Creation  and  Deluge,  41. 

5 So  Hommel,  PSBA.  1893,  245. 

6 Since  the  city  Isin  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  Larak  (SBH.86,  Rev.  10-12;  CT.  15,  25,  20-3) 
perhaps  we  should  look  for  this  word  in  the  end  of  Amempsinus.  See  SBP.  160,  note  7. 

7Apollodorus  has  firtapr^s,  but  this  has  been  corrected  to  Opartes,  and  identified  with 
Ubar-Tutu. 


66 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


father  of  Uta-napistim1  was  Ubar-dTu-Tu,2  moreover  Uta- 
napistim  is  said  to  have  been  a “Man  of  Suruppak,’’  and 
Laranchae  and  Suruppak  were  probably  names  of  adjacent 
quarters  of  the  great  city  Isin.  Hence  both  Opartes  and 
Ubar-dTutu  belong  to  the  same  city. 

10.  ‘EZicrovdpos,  Xisuthrus,  son  Opartes.  Reigned  64,800 
years.  The  Greek  is  based  upon  the  Semitic  title  of  Uta- 
napistim,  atra-basisu>  hasis-atra,  “The  supremely  wise.”3 

In  this  list  all  those  names  designated  as  Chaldean  are 
probably  Sumerian.  In  fact  Berossus  appears  to  employ  the 
word  “Chaldean’’  in  the  sense  of  “Sumerian”  here.  It  is 
curious  that  the  only  names  certainly  Semitic,  Nos.  3,  6,  are 
from  Pantibiblus.  Even  here  we  have  in  No.  7 a Sumerian 
ruler.  On  the  whole  this  list  is  preponderating!}'  Sumerian. 


The  Meaning  of  the  Name  Tagtug 

1 have  already  defended  in  print  a possible  connection  of 
the  Sumerian  name  Tagtug  with  the  Hebrew  Noah.4  The 
argument  to  which  I have  nothing  new  to  add  is  as  follows. 

1 Semitic  translation  of  Sumerian  Zi-ud. 

2 This  name  is  also  Sumerian  and  means  “T  he  protege  of  the  god  Tu(d)-tu(d) ."  The  title 
Tu-tu  is  one  assumed  by  Marduk  in  religious  texts  of  the  Assyrian  period  but  even  there  it  does 
not  always  apply  to  him,  e.  g.,  Shurpu  IV  45,  VI 1 1,  12.  This  title  is  unknown  before  the  period 
of  the  first  Babyl.  dynasty.  Hammurapi  uses  it  without  a determinative  for  god,  Code  III  10, 
and  in  that  section  which  refers  to  Barsippa.  The  title  occurs  in  n.pra.  of  this  period  but  not 
before  or  after.  It  may  be  that  the  two  n.pra.  in  V R.  44,  6 and  21,  which  are  Sumerian  and 
contain  this  title,  belong  to  this  period  or  slightly  earlier.  In  the  Assyrian  rendering  the  god 
Marduk  is  used,  but  this  is  based  upon  later  views.  In  the  period  when  these  names  were  given 
Tu-tu  probably  referred  to  some  other  god,  probably  a local  deity  of  Suruppak  or  Larak,  both 
of  which  seem  to  have  been  parts  of  the  famous  city  Isin,  where  Gula  was  worshipped,  SBP. 
160  n.  7 and  26,  7.  It  is  surprising  that  a deity  who  appears  so  late  in  the  history  of  the  pantheon 
should  here  occur  in  the  name  of  a prehistoric  Sumerian  ruler. 

3 This  title  appears  as  at-ra-ha-sis,  in  the  Gilgamish  version,  Dhorme,  i 18,  196  and  in  an 
early  Babylonian  version,  Frag.  Scbcil  VIII  4,  as  at-ra-am-ba-si-is.  The  hero  of  the  Flood  has 
also  the  same  title  atra-basis  in  a fragment  from  another  version,  Dhorme,  126,  1 1.  The  inver- 
sion b asis-atra  is  probably  based  upon  a too  mechanical  rendering  of  the  Sumerian  PI-D1RIG{?). 

4 PSBA.  1914,  189. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE  67 

Since  we  know  that  the  Babylonians  did  not  employ  the 
Sumerian  name  of  the  hero  of  the  Sumerian  epic  of  the  Creation 
and  the  Flood,  viz.,  Zi-ud-sud-du,  but  translated  it  into  Semitic 
by  Uta-napistim,  we  may  expect  that  the  Babylonians  who 
preferred  the  Nippur  epic  would  likewise  render  Tagtug  by  its 
Semitic  translation.  Although  no  Babylonian  version  has  been 
found  based  upon  the  Nippurian,  yet  Hebrew  mythology  was 
obviously  much  indebted  to  it.  The  problem  is,  then,  to  trans- 
late tag-tug  and  if  possible  to  justify  a translation  from  which 
the  Hebrew  Noah  013)  might  be  derived.  Both  words  tag 
and  tug  are  derived  from  the  Sumerian  stem  d t-g,  whose 
general  meaning  is  “to  rest,  repose.”  The  form  of  the  root  tug 
is  regularly  rendered  by  nahu,  “to  repose.”  As  for  the  form 
with  internal  vowel  a,  tag,  we  know  that  it  can  be  rendered 
by  labasu,  a word  usually  taken  to  mean  “cast  down;”  the 
ordinary  meaning  of  the  root  tag  is  the  active  of  the  idea  gen- 
erally expressed  by  tug,  i.  e.,  “to  cause  to  rest,  to  suppress, 
to  beat  down  violently.”  These  two  ideas  are  connected  and 
we  need  not  hesitate  to  suppose  that  the  intransitive  idea  of 
“repose,  to  come  to  an  end,”  was  expressed  by  the  active  root 
tag  also,  labasu  is  probably  the  same  root  as  rabasu,  “to  lie 
down;”  it  is  true  that  the  verb  labasu  is  explained  by  tag  in 
a syllabar  where  it  occurs  between  { u’unu , “to  fashion  skill- 
fully,” and  mahasu  sa  minima,  “to  hammer  something,”  and 
the  verb  has  undoubtedly  the  same  active  idea  here.1  Also 
in  the  only  other  passage  where  labasu  occurs  it  is  given  the 
same  active  sense  “to  cast  down.”2  Naturally  this  persistent 
use  of  labasu  in  the  sense  of  “cast  down,  smite,”  may  exclude 


1 Syl.  C 292-5. 

2 ka-su-gdl  = la-ba-su,  Syn.  laban  appi,  CT.  13,  32,  11. 


68 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


a connection  with  rabasu,1  and  render  the  whole  argument  so 
far  as  this  word  is  concerned  ineffective.  Nevertheless  the 
possibility  of  the  root  tag  having  this  meaning  need  not  depend 
upon  evidence  so  fragile.  The  cognate  dag  means  both  asdbu, 
“to  sit,”  and  subtit,  “abode,  place  of  repose.”2  The  form 
with  internal  vowel  e,  teg,  is  one  of  the  ordinary  words  in 
Sumerian  for  pasa.hu  and  nd.hu,  “to  rest,”  as  well  as  the  variant 
tend  Also  tug  has  the  variant  tub,  a word  which  is  repeatedly 
employed  for  ndhu.  This  evidence  would  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances induce  a Sumerologist  acquainted  with  the  ten- 
dency of  the  language  to  use  the  stems  of  roots  with  various 
internal  vowel  inflections  all  in  the  same  sense  to  expect  a root 
tag,  “to  rest,  repose.”  A reduplicated  stem  like  tag-tug  would 
ordinarily  have  an  active  sense,  and  be  rendered  by  the  piel 
in  Semitic.  Granting  that  we  have  here  such  a reduplicated 
stem  for  ndhu,  tag-tug,  should  be  rendered  by  nuhu,  “to  cause 
to  repose,”  and  the  permansive  singular  would  be  nu-uh,  “he 
is  appeased,”  i.  e.,  “God  is  appeased,”  “God’s  wrath  is  made 
to  repose.”  Such  was  the  theory  by  which  I connected  this 
name  with  the  Hebrew  Noah.  In  its  favor  we  can  also  urge 
the  appropriateness  of  this  name  for  the  hero  who  survived 
the  deluge,  by  which  the  anger  of  the  gods  against  sinful  men 
was  appeased. 

Against  this  theory  we  may  adduce  the  fact  that  no  direct 
evidence  for  the  meaning  “to  rest,”  for  tag  has  been  adduced. 
And  much  more  serious  than  this  will  be  the  objection  that, 
when  Sumerian  wished  to  express  intense  action  and  causa- 
tion, they  double  the  same  form  of  the  root,  not  different 

1 This  was  the  reason  for  my  entry  to  tag  in  the  sense  of  “rest,  abide,”  in  Sum.  Gr.  245. 
Cf.  nabdsu,  napd.su,  “to  overwhelm.” 

2 See  Sunt.  Gr.  208;  SBP.  320,  12;  Bollenrucher,  Nergal,  3 1,  12,  dag-ga  = sub-ii;  Meiss- 
ner, SAi.  3869.  dag-na  nu-un-til=ina  subti-su  ul  asib.  Meek,  BA.  X,  No.  38,  9. 

5 See  Sum.  Gr.  247. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


69 


forms  of  it.  We  should  expect  for  this  idea  tug-tug,  or  tag-tag, 
like  gar-gar,  mal-mal,  etc.  I am  unable  to  find  any  examples 
of  the  reduplication  of  a stem  in  which  two  vowels  not  of  the 
same  kind  are  employed.  On  the  whole  we  must  regard  this 
interpretation  as  doubtful.  To  say  impossible,  would  be  to 
allow  too  little  scope  for  future  discoveries.  To  accept  it  as 
proven  would  lead  to  uncertain  conclusions. 


TRANSLITERATION  AND  TRANSLATION 
Obverse  I 


1 . [e-ne-ba-\dm  e-ne-ba-am  me-en- 

si-en 

2.  [ kur ] Dilmun  ki-a^ag-  ga-  dm 

3.  [ki-a^ag-\ga  e-ne  ba-am  me-en-si- 

en 

4 kur  Dilmun  ki-a^ag-  ga- 

am 

5.  kur  Dilmun  ki-a{ag-ga-am  kur 

Dilmun  el-am 

6.  kur  Dilmun  el-am  kur  Dilmun 

lag-lag-ga-am 


1.  They  that  slept,  they  that  slept 

are  ye.1 

2.  [In  mountain  of]  Dilmun  which 

is  an  holy  place, 

3.  [In  the  holy  place]  they  that 

slept  are  ye. 

4 the  mountain  of  Dilmun 

which  is  an  holy  place. 

5.  The  mountain  of  Dilmun  which 

is  an  holy  place,  the  moun- 
tain of  Dilmun  is  pure. 

6.  The  mountain  of  Dilmun  is 

pure,  the  mountain  of  Dil- 
mun is  clean. 


1 References  to  the  sleeping  chamber  of  each  of  the  great  gods  and  his  consort  can  be  sup- 
plied from  religious  texts  which  concern  other  cult  centers.  An  illuminating  comment  upon 
this  passage  will  be  found  in  the  Scheil  Fragment  of  the  Adapa  legend  where  the  poet  says  of 
Adapa: 

“In  those  days  Adapa  a man  of  Eridu, 

When  the  chieftain  Ea  paraded  unto  the  sleeping  chamber, 

Daily  guards  the  bolt  of  Eridu.’’ 
enumisu  Adapa  mar  ( al ) Eridi 
[mas-]su{d)  iluEa  ina  maiali  ina  sadadi 
umisamma  sigar  (al)  Eridi  issar. 

For  the  restitution  mas-su(d)  =massu,  “leading  goat,”  and  title  of  Ea,  see  CT.  16,  20,  124. 
Zimmern  first  made  this  evident  restoration  which  was  unfortunately  rejected  by  other  editors. 
See  for  the  text  Dhorme,  Choix  150,  16-18. 


70 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


7.  as-ni-ne  Dilmun-(ki)-a  u-be-  in- 

ti ad1 

8.  ki  den-ki  dam-a-ni-da  ba-an-da- 

na-a-ba 

9.  ki-bi  el-am  ki-bi  lag-lag-ga-am 

10.  as-ni-ne 

11.  ki  den-ki  dnin-el-Ia2  ba-an-[da- 

nd-a-ba\ 

12  ki-bi  el-am 

13.  Dilmun-(ki)-a  u-nag-ga-(gn)dug- 

dug  nu-mu-ni-bi 3 

14.  dar-(gu)-e  gu-dar-(gu)-ri  nu-mu- 

ni-ib-bi 

15.  ur-gu-la  sag-gis  nu-uld-ra-ra 

16.  ur-bar-ra-ge 4 5 s'll  nu-ub-  kar-  ri 

17.  lik-ku  mas  gam-gam  mi-  te-  -ba 

18.  tud(?)se-kur-kur-e  nil-  te-  ba 


7.  Alone  in  Dilmun  they  lay  down; 

8.  Where  Enki  with  his  consort 

lay, 

9.  That  place  is  pure,  that  place 

is  clean. 

10.  Alone  in  Dilmun  they  lay  down. 

11.  Where  Enki  with  the  pure  di- 

vine queen  lay  down, 

12.  That  place  is  pure,  that  place 

is  clean. 

13.  In  Dilmun  the  raven6  shrieked 

not. 

14.  The  kite 7 shrieked  not,  kitelike. 

1 3.  The  lion8  slew  not. 

16.  The  wolf  plundered  not  the 

lambs. 

17.  The  dog  approached  not  the 

kids  in  repose. 

18.  The  mother  (goat)  as  it  fed  on 

grain  he  disturbed  not. 


1 For  ii-nad  = salalu,  v.  IV  R.  13 b 39  u-ba-ra-e-ne  = la  a statu.  The  verb  should  be  inflected 
with  the  dual  ending  ds-ds,  but  this  is  found  rarely  and  only  after  nouns,  Sum.  Gr.  §130.  The 
above  passage  is  the  only  example  of  a dual  verb  known  to  me  and  we  may  conclude  that  no 
inflection  existed  for  the  dual  in  the  Sumerian  conjugation,  ii-nc  becomes  c-ne  in  e-ne-ba-am, 
“he  that  slept,”  or  “they  two  that  slept.” 

2 This  title  is  applied  also  to  the  consort  of  Negun,  son  of  Ninlil,  in  CT.  24,  26,  113;  Negun 
is  a name  of  Ninurasa.  Note  also  the  connection  of  these  deities  in  ,luNegunna-e(?)-mu-ki( ?) 
son  of  A mel-dN inella,  CT.  8,  44 b 18  f.  Also  gasan-el-la,  SBP.  170,  6 is  a title  of  Gula,  Bau  or  a 
similar  mother  goddess.  Only  in  this  passage  does  the  title  apply  to  Damkina.  in  line  31  she 
is  represented  as  the  daughter  of  Enki. 

3 Cf.  dug-mu-ni-ib-bi,  [The  storm  in  heaven]  shrieked,  Zimmern,  K.  L,  28  Rev.  31  ff.  Also 
SBH.  97,  74  an-ta  a-nun-na  diig-be-ib-bi,  "On  high  the  tempest  shrieked.” 

4 The  sign  is  clearly  te  but  ub  should  be  expected. 

5 Cf.  Dkorme,  Choix  1 18  I.  190. 

6 Bird  of  the  storm,  and  symbol  of  the  city  of  Lagash. 

7 In  any  case  a storm  bird  which  flies  high  and  has  a shrill  voice,  SBP.  240,  47.  Note  that 
the  tarru,  a loan-word  from  dar,  is  rendered  in  Sumerian  by  N A M-\-SA B-dar-gu  in  CT.  14,  4,  6 
and  NAAl-\-$AB  is  the  raven  (aribu),  hence  a bird  allied  to  the  raven;  in  the  same  passage  the 
"night  bird”  if}t‘r  mu  si  precedes.  Muss-Arnolt,  Lexicon,  129  a renders  “kite”  which  is 
probable. 

8 The  Semitic  deluge  I.  188  has  ur-mag. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


71 


19.  nu-mu-un-{u  dim-isgar  -ra-bi . . . 

-ba 

20.  musen-e  an-na  dim-bi  nu- e 

21.  tud-(gu)-e  sag-nu-mu-un-da- 

sub-el 

22.  igi-gtg-e  igi-gig  me-en  nu-mu- 

ni-bi 

23.  sag-gig-gi  sag-gig  me-en  nu 

24.  um-ma-bi  um-ma  me-en  nu 

25.  ab-ba-bi  ab-ba  me-en  nu 

26.  ki-el  a-nu-tu-a-ni  eri-a  nu-mu-ni- 

ib-sig-gi 

27.  galu  id-da  bal-e-mi-de  nu-mu- 

ni-bi 

28.  ligir-e  X2  ga-na  nu-um-nigin 

29.  lul-e  e-lu-lam  nu-mu-ni-bi 

30.  galam  eri-ka  i-dur 3 nu-mu 

31.  dnin-el-la  a-a-ni  den-ki-ra  gii- 

mu-  na-  de-a 


19.  The  (ewes)  impregnate  their 

joetus .... 

20.  The  birds  of  heaven  their  young 

[forsook]  not. 

21.  The  doves  were  not  put  to 

flight. 

22.  “Oh  disease  of  the  eyes  thou 

art  the  ‘Sick  Eye,’”  one 
said  not.4 

23.  “Oh  head  ache  thou  art  the 

‘Head  Ache,’  ” one  said  not. 

24.  As  to  the  old  woman,  “thou 

art  an  old  woman”  one  said 
not. 

25.  As  to  the  old  man,  “thou  art 

an  old  man”  one  said  not. 

26.  A pure  place  where  water  was 

not  poured  for  cleansing  in 
the  city  one  inhabited  not. 

27.  “A  man  has  changed  a canal,” 

one  said  not. 

28.  A prince  his  wisdom  withheld 

not.5 

29.  “A  deceiver  deceives,”  one  said 

not. 

30.  “The  counsellor  of  a city 

,”  one  said  not. 

31.  Ninella  to  Enki  her6  father 

spoke. 


1 This  compound  probably  illustrates  a fact  in  regard  to  the  prefix  sag  already  noted  by 
Delitzsch  in  his  Glossary,  p.  233.  sag  does  not  appear  to  alter  the  meaning  of  a compound. 
Cf.,  beside  the  examples  cited  by  Delitzsch,  sag-bi  = tamu,  sag-gis-ra  = neru. 

2 The  sign  is  sessig  of  with  the  modifying  lines  on  the  right  of  the  sign,  and  usually 

has  the  value  galam,  skillful,  see  BE.  XXXI  45.  For  the  simple  sign  see  line  30.  Should  we 
suppose  a value  galag-ga~> galam-ma? 

3 Cf.  Zimmern,  KL.  26  Rev.  1 17. 

4 The  idea  is  taken  from  the  incantations  against  the  demons  of  disease. 

6 The  meaning  of  this  line  has  been  suggested  by  nigin-galam-ma  = sukuru,  to  make  rare. 

6 Ninella,  the  consort  and  daughter  of  Enki,  is  obviously  identical  with  Damgalnunna  in 
II  32,  who  is  there  represented  as  the  daughter  of  Enki.  Damgalnunna  is  ordinarily  represented 
as  the  consort  of  Enki  in  religious  texts. 


72 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


32.  eri-mu-e-sig  eri-mu-e-sig  nam 

mu-sum-ma-^a 

33.  Dilmun  eri  mu-e-si  g eri 

34.  [ . . . . ]mu-e-sig  eri 

35 id-da  vu-  un-  ink-  a 

36.  [eri]mu-e-sig  eri 


32.  “A  city  thou  hast  founded,  a 

city  thou  hast  founded  and  a 
fate  thou  hast  given. 

33.  In  Dilmun  a city  thou  hast 

founded,  a city  (thou  hast 
founded  and  a fate  thou  hast 
given). 

34  thou  hast  founded  a 

city  (thou  hast  founded  and 
a fate  hast  given). 

35  (which)  a canal  has  not. 

36.  [ ] thou  hast  founded,  a 

city  (thou  hast  founded  and 
a fate  thou  hast  given). 


37  da 

38  a a 


About  seven  lines  broken  away. 


Obverse  1 1 


1 . gir-ma-an-gal-la-^a  a ge-im-ta-e-1 

de 

2.  eri-{u  a ge-gdl-la  gu-mu-ra-nag- 

nag 

3.  Dilmun-ki  a ge- gal-la 

4.  did  a-ses-a-fii  did  a dug-ga  ge- 

im-[-ta-da-du-ne] 

5.  eri-{u  e gu-kar-ra2 3  kalam-ma-ka 

ge-a 

6.  Dilmun-ki  e 

7.  i-de-su3  dbabbar  ud-de-  a 

8.  dbabbar  an-na  gub-bi-  e 


1.  In  thy  great may  waters 

flow. 

2.  Thy  city  may  drink  water  in 

abundance. 

3.  Dilmun  may  drink  water  in 

abundance. 

4.  Thy  pools  of  bitter  waters  as  a 

pool  of  sweet  waters  may  flow. 

5.  Let  thy  city  be  the  home  which 

assembles  the  Land  of  Sumer. 

6.  Let  Dilmun  be  the  home  which 

assembles  the  Land  of  Sumer. 

7.  Now  oh  Sun-god  shine  forth. 

8.  Oh  Sun-god  in  heaven  stand. 


1 The  photograph  appears  to  have  da-du  not  DU L-DU(  = C),  but  in  line  12  the  sign  DUL 
is  clearly  written.  This  curious  form  of  the  sign  REC.  233  I have  found  nowhere  else.  The 
identification  with  DUL  is  the  only  one  which  seems  possible. 

2 Probably  for  gu-gar-ra  = pul>hitru,  RA.  10,71  II  1. 

3Cf.  i-de-su  = inanna,  IV  R.  13,  Rev.  40  in  Corrections  and  PSBA.  1914,  192. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


73 


9.  gir-du-a  dug-e^en  ki-na-ta 

10 sugur-e  dnanna(r)-a-  ta 

1 1 . ka-a-ki-a-lag-ta  a-dug-ki-ta  mu- 
na-ra-  gub 

12.  gir-ma-an-gal-la-na  a im-ta-e-de 

13.  eri-ni  a ge- gal-la  im-ta-nag-nag 

14.  Dilmun-{ki)  a ge-[gal-la  im-ta- 

nag-nag ] 

13.  dul  a-ses-a-ni  a-dug-ga  na-nam 

16.  a-sag  agar-ra?1  nam-a-ni  se-mu- 

na-ab-? 

17.  eri-ni  e gu-kar-ra  kalam-ma-ka 

na-nam 

18.  Dilmun-(ki ) e-gu-[kar-ra  kalam- 

ma-ka  na-nam ] 

19.  i-de-su  dbabbar  ud-de-a  ur  ge  na- 

nam-ma2 

20.  as-^al3  gispitug-gi  tuk-a 

21.  dnin-tud-ama-kalama-su 

22.  den-ki-ge  gispitug-gi  tuk-a 

23.  dnin-tud 

24.  us4-a-ni  e-a  ba-an- si-in-dun3 


9.  He  that  marches from  his 

place. 

10 the  Moon-god 

11.  From  the  mouth  of  the  earth 

walking  forth,  with  sweet 
waters  of  the  earth  he  comes 
unto  thee.” 

12.  In  his  great waters  went 

up. 

13.  His  city  drank  water  in  abun- 

dance. 

14.  Dilmun  drank  water  in  abun- 

dance. 

15.  His  pool  of  bitter  waters  was 

(a  pool  of)  sweet  water. 

16.  The  low-lands 

17.  His  city  was  the  home  which 

assembles  the  Land  (of 
Sumer). 

18.  Dilmun  was  the  home  which 

assembles  the  Land  (of 
Sumer). 

19.  Now  oh  Sun-god  shine  forth. 

Verily  it  was  so. 

20.  He  the  renderer  of  decision,  the 

possessor  of  wisdom, 

21.  To  Nintud  the  mother  of  the 

Land  of  Sumer, 

22.  Enki  the  possessor  of  wisdom, 

23.  Even  unto  Nintud  (the  mother 

of  the  Land  of  Sumer) 

24.  His  counsel  in  the  temple  re- 

vealed. 


1 The  signs  are  not  precisely  those  of  KAR-RA. 

2 suatu  lu  kiam,  “verily  it  was  so.”  This  phrase  was  rendered  into  Hebrew  by  D TL1- 

3 Below  NI  a clearly  written  TAR.  Perhaps  j al  > pi  > sil  and  glossed  sil. 

4 us  = temu,  v.  Sum.  Gr.  255. 

6 dun  = pitu  sa  ndri,  “to  open  a canal,”  V Raw.  42  a 55,  is  a rendering  derived  from  dun  to 
dig,  hence  “to  open  a canal.”  See  also  Bab.  Liturgies  120,  15.  From  this  meaning  the  verb 
received  the  sense  of  "to  reveal.” 


74 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


25.  a-a-ni  gi-a  kas-kasl-e  ba-an-si- 

kas-kas-e 

26.  us-a-ni  bar-su  mag-dug  sa-ba-ra- 

an~ii-{i 

27.  gii-be-in-de  ma-ra  gain  nu-mu- 

un-dib-bi 

28.  den-ki-ge  gii-ber-in-de 

29.  1 i-an-na  ni-  pad 

30.  nd-ad  ma-ra  nd-a  ma-ra  enim-ni 

3 1 . den-ki-ge  a ddam-gal-nnn-na  enim 

-ni  mi-ni-in-dug 

32.  dnin-gar-sag-gd-ge  asag-ga  ba-ni- 

in-rig 

33.  asag-ga  su-ba-ni-in-ti  a den-ki- 

ga-ka 

34.  ud-as-am  ill-  ds-a-ni 

35.  ud-min-am  iti-min-a-ni 

36.  ud-es-dm  iti-es-a-ni 

37.  ud-lim-am  iti-lim-a-ni 

38.  ud-ia-am 

39.  ud-as-am 


25.  His  revelation  in  the  reed-house 

as  a decision  he  rendered  unto 
her. 

26.  His  counsel  in  secret  grandly 

and  beneficently  to  her  he 
affirmed. 

27.  He  spoke.  “Unto  me  man  en- 

ters not.”1 2 3 4 

28.  Enki  spoke, 

29.  By  heaven  he  swore. 

30.  “Cause  him  to  sleep5  for  me, 

cause  him  to  sleep  for  me,” 
was  his  word. 

31.  Enki  the  father  of  Damgal- 

nunna  uttered  his  word. 

32.  Ninharsag  the  fields 6 

33.  The  fields  received  the  waters  of 

Enki. 

34.  It  was  the  first  day  whose 

month  is  the  first. 

35.  It  was  the  second  day  whose 

month  is  the  third. 

36.  It  was  the  third  day  whose 

month  is  the  third. 

37.  It  was  the  fourth  day  whose 

month  is  the  fourth. 

38.  It  was  the  fifth  day  [whose 

month  is  the  fifth], 

39.  It  was  the  sixth  day  [whose 

month  is  the  sixth]. 


1 For  kas  = purnssu,  v.  ka-as,  SBH.  77,  7. 

2 The  reading  be  for  ne  is  a suggestion  of  Poebel. 

3 luni’il,  CT.  16,  45,  47. 

4 See  for  another  suggestion  on  this  important  line,  PSBA.  1914,  256. 

6 /.  e.,  to  perish. 

6 The  meaning  is  uncertain.  The  mother  goddess  nowhere  else  appears  as  hostile  to  man 
until  he  eats  of  the  cassia  and  is  cursed,  ba-ni-in-rig  might  of  course  be  rendered  by  urabbif, 
“she  devastated,”  which  is  the  most  natural  rendering.  Perhaps  we  have  to  do  with  the  verb 
rig  > ri  to  fashion,  build,  whence  rib  “form,”  v.  Suni.Gr.  234.  In  the  latter  case  we  should 
render,  “Ninharsag  in  the  fields  had  fashioned  (men),  (but)  the  fields  received  the  waters  of 
Enki.” 


STEPHEN  LANGDON SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


75 


40.  ud-imin-am 

41.  ud-ussu-am 

42.  ud-elim-dm  iti-elim-a-ni  iti  nam- 

sal-a-ka 

43.  id-lumx-gim  ia-lum-gim  ia-dug- 

nun-na1 2-gim 

44.  [dnin-tud]-ama-kalama-ka 

45.  [dnin-kur-ra?] 

46.  in-tu-ud 


40.  It  was  the  seventh  day  [whose 

month  is  the  seventh], 

41.  It  was  the  eighth  day  [whose 

month  is  the  eighth], 

42.  It  was  the  ninth  day  whose 

month  is  the  ninth ; month  of 
the  cessation  of  the  waters. 

43.  Like  fat,  like  fat,  like  tallow. 

44.  Nintud  mother  of  the  Land, 

45.  [Even  Ninkurra], 

46.  had  created  them. 


Obverse  III 


1 . dnin-tud  gu-id-da-ga-su  mi-ni-ib- 

gK?) 

2.  den-ki-ge  md-ra  im-da-lal-e-ne 

im-da-lal-e-ne 3 

3.  sukkal-a-ni  dingir-guda-ne  gu- 

mu-na-de-e 

4.  galu-dumu 4 sag-ga-e-ne  nu-mu- 

un-fu-te-bi 5 

5.  dnin-tud  sag-ga-e-[ne  nu-mu-un- 

l u-te-bi ] 

6.  sukkal-a-ni  dingir-guda-ne  mu- 

na-ni-ib-gt-gt 

7.  galu-dumu  sag-ga-e-ne  nu-mu- 

un-{u-te-bi 


1.  Nintud  to  the  bank  of  the 

river  summoned. 

2.  “ Enki  (for  me)  they  are  reck- 

oned, yea  are  reckoned.” 

3.  Her  herald  the  divine  anointed 

ones6  called. 

4.  The  sons  of  men  who  were 

pious  she  was  not  wroth 
against. 

5.  Nintud  against  the  pious  was 

not  wroth. 

6.  Her  herald  the  divine  anointed 

ones  caused  to  return. 

7.  The  sons  of  men  who  were 

pious  she  was  not  wroth 
against. 


1 Probably  the  original  o'f  ia-lu  = lipu,  fat,  tallow,  AJSL.  28,  219.  Cf.  DP.  2d  1 3. 

* The  same  word  in  Gud.  Cyl.  A 18,  21  where  it  follows  ia-nun,  butter. 

5 The  verb  im-da-lal  occurs  in  Poebel,  Cr.  VI  4 j a-da-ne-ne  im-da-lal,  “With  you  he  has 
been  reckoned,”  i.  e.,  counted  among  the  immortals.  Cf.  also  line  2 { a-ad-da  ge-im-da-lal,  "With 
thee  may  he  be  reckoned.”  For  lal  in  this  sense  note  also  ba-ab-lal-en=tat1adassu,  “Thou 
countest  him,”  BE.  29,  7 Rev.  53. 

4Cf.  Zimmern,  KL.  27  Rev.  II,  9. 

6 For  iu-teg  = iaru,  v.  BA.  V.  638,  n. 

6 Probably  priests.  Or  perhaps  the  Anunnaki  are  meant. 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


76 

8.  dnin-tud  sag-[ga-e-ne  nu-mu-un- 

l u-te-bi ] 

9.  lu gal-mu  ni-dirig-ga-ri 1 2 3 4 * nt-dirig- 

ga-ri 

10.  gir-ni  ds-a  g,ima-a  be-in-gub 

1 1 . 2 gu-ma 2 maskim'-ma  nand-mi- 
in-gub 

12.  du-im-ma-an-tab  gibil-im-ma-an- 

su-teg 

13.  den-ki-ge  asag-ga  ba-ni-in-rig 

14.  asag-ga  su-ba-ni-in-ti  a den-ki- 

ga-ka 

15.  ud-as-am  iti-as-a-ni 

16.  ud-min-am  iti-min-a-ni 

17.  nd-elim-dm  iti-elim-a-ni  iti  nam- 

sal-  a-kab 


8.  Nintud  against  the  pious  was 

not  wroth. 

9.  My  king,  who  was  filled  with 

fear,  yea  was  filled  with  fear, 

10.  His  foot  alone  upon  the  boat 

set. 

11.  Two  “humbles,”  as  watchmen 

he  placed  on  guard. 

12.  Doubly  he  caulked  the  ship; 

torches  he  lighted ,6 

13.  Enki  devastated  the  fields. 

14.  The  fields  received  the  waters 

of  Enki. 

15.  It  was  the  first  day,  whose 

month  is  the  first. 

16.  It  was  the  second  day,  whose 

month  is  the  second. 

17.  It  was  the  ninth  day,  whose 

month  is  the  ninth;  the 
month  of  the  cessation  of  the 
waters. 


1 For  this  emphatic  ri,  v.  Sum.  Gr.  §163;  also  ri  = ge  in  enemdmullilla-ri,  "the  word  of  Enlil,” 
Bab.  Lit.  186  Rev.  11.  Literally  "the  terror  filled.” 

2 kansi,  dual  of  katisu,  “the  humble,”  a designation  for  slaves  or  attendants.  Wholly 
uncertain.  For  gum  a derivative  of  gam  = kanasu,  cf.  Sum.  Gr.  218. 

3 This  sign  which  recurs  in  line  31  below  has  at  the  beginning  an  element  identical  with 
the  first  part  of  the  sign  gidim  = utukku;  also  maskim  = utukku,  RA.  10,  71  II  10.  In  all  other 
known  examples  this  sign  begins  with  PA.  cf.  Manistusu  A 14,  6,  etc.  Some  confusion  between 
these  two  signs  must  be  supposed  to  explain  the  form  here. 

4 nam  is  not  negative  here  and  the  positive  force  can  be  paralleled;  nam-ta-e-gdl  = tapti, 
“thou  hast  opened,”  IV  R 20  No.  2,  3;  na-am-ma-ni  = ublamma,  SBP.  172,  36;  nam-ma-ra-e 
(From  his  queen),  “he  caused  him  to  go  forth,”  SBP.  284,  16.  es-e-ninnu-ta  ug-ga  nam-ta-'e  mtn- 
katn-ma  e-sii  ug-u-ne  be-clib,  “From  the  chamber  of  Eninnu  at  daybreak  he  went  forth  and  again 
to  the  templeat  midday  he  went,”  Gud.  Cyl.  A 8,  1.  gii-nam-mi-de,  "he  called,”  SAK.  12  VI  7; 
gii-nam-mi-in-de,  CT.  16,  20,  132;  cf.  22,  236.  This  nam  is  obviously  the  emphatic  nam  seen 
in  nanam  an  emphatic  enclitic;  su-gi-me  na-nam,  "verily  I take  hold,”  II  R.  16,  36;  kur  gtg-gig- 
ga-na-nam,  “the  land  it  afflicts,”  SBP.  44,  3 (cf.  3).  Note  also  na-mu-un-ba-al , “verily  he 

trangresses  against,”  SBP.  284,  12  ff. 

6 The  second  rehearsal  omits  the  months  3-8.  This  form  of  recital  describes  in  a vivid 
manner  the  gradual  rise  of  the  waters  and  the  monotony  of  their  long  duration. 

6 Cf.  NE-su-ud  — (Iparu,  torch,  BA.  V,  708,  4.  This  phrase  is  wholly  uncertain. 
su-teg  in  nig-su-teg,  KL.  78  R.  19  has  a meaning  synonymous  with  “ atonement,  purifi- 
cation.” 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


77 


18.  ia-lum-gim  ia-lum-gim  ia-dug- 

nun-na-gim 

19.  [dnin-kur-ra  ia-lu\m 

20.  dnin~tu[d  ama  kalama-ka ] in- 

tu-ud 

2 1 . dnin-kiir-ra  [ gu-id-da-ga-su \ mi- 

ni-lib-gt ?] 

22.  den-ki-ge  ma-ra  im-[da-lal-e-ne 

im-da-lal-e-ne] 

23.  sukkal-a-ni  dingir-guda-ne  [git- 

mu-na-de-e] 

24.  galu-dumu-sag-ga-e-ne  nu-mu- 

un-[{u-te-bi ] 

25.  dnin-kur-ra  sdg-[ga-e-ne  nu-mu- 

un-fu-fe-bi] 

26.  sukkal-a-ni  dingir-guda-ne  mu- 

na-ni-ib-gi-gt 

27.  galu-dumu  sag-ga-e-ne  su-in- 

SAL  + KU-ni 

28.  dnin-kur-ra  sag-[ga-e-ne  su-in- 

SAL  + KU-nt } 

29.  lugal-mu  n'l-dirig-ga-ri  nt-dirig- 

ga-n 

30.  gir-ni  as-a  etSmd-a  be-in-gub 

31.2  gu-ma  maskim-ma  nam-mi-in- 
gub 

32.  du-im-ma-an-tab  gibil-im-ma-ni- 

su-te 

33.  den-ki-ge  asag  ba-ni-in-rig 


18.  Like  fat,  like  fat,  like  tallow, 

19.  Ninkurra1  (like)  fat, 

20.  Nintud  [mother  of  the  Land] 

had  created  them. 

21.  Ninkurra  [to  the  shore  of  the 

river  had  summoned}. 

22.  “ Enki,  for  me  they  are  reck- 

oned, yea  they  are  reckoned.” 

23.  Her  herald  the  divine  anointed 

ones  had  called. 

24.  The  pious  sons  of  men  she  was 

not  wroth  against. 

25.  Ninkurra  against  the  pious  sons 

of  men  was  not  wroth. 

26.  Her  herald  caused  the  divine 

anointed  ones  to  turn  unto 
her. 

27.  The  pious  sons  of  men 

she 

28.  Ninkurra  the  pious 

29.  My  king  the  terror  filled,  the 

terror  filled, 

30.  His  foot  alone  on  the  ship  had 

set. 

31.  Two  “humbles”  as  watchmen 

on  guard  he  had  placed. 

32.  Doubly  he  had  caulked  the  ship; 

torches  he  had  lighted. 

33.  Enki  devastated  the  fields. 


1 This  title  of  Nintud  does  not  occur  in  the  great  list,  CT.  24,  12  and  24,  25  but  has  the  same 
import  as  the  title  Ninharsag,  “lady  of  the  mountains.”  Both  names  reflect  the  ancient  home 
of  a mountain  dwelling  people  who  spoke  of  their  great  mother  goddess  in  this  way.  In  fact 
the  great  list  does  apply  this  name  to  the  major  type  of  mother  goddess  Innini,  CT.  25,  30, 
Obv.  3.  This  aspect  common  to  both  branches  of  the  unmarried  goddess  is  seen  in  dNintud 
ama-mag  kur-kur-ra-ge,  "Nintud,  great  mother,  she  of  the  mountains,”  Babyl.  Liturgies  No.  102 
11.  3 and  7.  In  later  texts  Ninkurra  developed  into  a patroness  of  stonecutters  and  quite  an 
independent  deity,  II  R.  58,  68;  VR  61  IV  17;  Zimmern,  Beitrdge,  142,  13;  ibid..  Col.  Ill  6; 
also  No.  38,  20;  Weissbach,  Miscel.,  XI 1 31;  CT.  26,  VI  77;  Meissner-Rost,  Senecherib,  p. 
19,  1.  20. 


78 

34-  asag-ga 
ga-ka 

35.  ud-as-am  iti  as-a-ni 

36.  ud-elim-am  iti  elim-a-ni  iti  nam- 

sal-a-ka 

37.  ia-lum-gim  ia-lum-gim  ia-dug- 

nun-na-gim 

38.  dnin-kur-ra  ia-lum 

39.  dtag-tug  sal-ni-dlm  in- 

40.  dnin-tud-ri  dtag-tug-[ra\ 

gii-mu-na-de-e 

41.  na-ga-e'-rig  na-rig-mu 

42.  gu-ga-ra-dug{?)  enim-enim-mu 

43.  galu-as-am  ma-ra  im-da-lal-[-e- 

ne  im-da-lal-e-ne ] 

44.  den-ki-ge  ma-ra  im-[da-lal-e-ne 

im-da-lal-e-ne ] 

45.  igi-im-l-e- 


34.  The  fields  received  the  waters 

of  Enki. 

35.  It  was  the  first  day  whose 

month  is  the  first. 

36.  It  was  the  ninth  day  whose 

month  is  the  ninth;  the 
month  of  the  cessation  of  the 
waters. 

37.  Like  fat,  like  fat,  like  tallow, 

38.  Ninkurra  (like)  fat  (had  created 

them]. 

39.  To  the  divine  Tagtug  she  re- 

vealed secrets .... 

40.  Nintud  to  the  divine  Tagtug 

spoke. 

41.  “Verily  1 will  purge  thee1 2;  my 

purging 

42.  I will  tell  thee;  my  words.  . . . 

43.  Oh  thou  one  man,  for  me  [they 

were  reckoned,  yea  were  reck- 
oned], 

44.  Enki,  for  me  has  reckoned  [has 

reckoned], 

43 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 

su-ba-ni-in-ti  a den-ki- 


One  line  broken  from  the  end  of  this  column. 


Reverse  I 

About  twelve  lines  broken  away  before  the  first  traces  of  lines  in  this  column. 


13 sal-ni-dlm  igi-im 3.  ...  | 13 revealed  secrets  [caused]  to 

see.  ..  . 

■4 '4 


1 See  Thureau-Dangin  in  RA.  1 1,  53  for  e indicating  the  second  person  both  of  the  sub- 
ject and  object. 

2 /.  e.,  Ninharsag  will  explain  how  Tagtug  escaped  the  universal  catastrophe,  and  secured 
his  pardon. 

3 This  verb  occurred  in  the  obliterated  line  Obv.  1 1 1 39. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


79 


15  a-na 

16  sag  gis-sar  a 


17 

18.  [e-bara-gu-ul-du-\-ba  DU-um 

19.  e-rab-ga-ra-an-ba  DU-um 

20.  e-a  tug-su-nun-tug-tudl-mu  ge- 

dur 

2 1 . den-ki-ge  tug-su-nun-tug-tud-mu 

ge-ne-in-dur 

22.  2 gu-ma  a-si-si-2da-ni 

23.  eg  a-b e-in-si 

24.  pa  a-be-in-si 

25.  kislag  a-be-in-?3 

26.  nu-gis-sar  a-na  hi E . . . 

27.  gu-^al4  gu-da  im-si-in- 

28.  a-ba  me-en  gis-sar 

29.  di en-ki-ge  nu-gis-sar  [ra 

Here  four  lines 

34 -im-ma-  .... 

35.  e-bara-gu-ul-du-ba  im-ma-na-an- 

gub 

36.  e-rab-ga-ra-an-ba 5 im-ma-na-an- 

gub  iir-ra-ni  be-in-mal-e 

37.  den-ki-ge  igi-ni-im-ma-an-stg- 

sig 6 mudur  su-be-in-dug 


15  

16  in  the  garden 

'7 

18.  [In  Ebaraguldu]  stand. 

19.  In  Erabgaran  stand. 

20.  In  the  temple  may  my  guide 

dwell, 

21.  May  Enki  my  guide  dwell. 

22.  Two  “bumbles’’  who  fill  with 

water, 

23.  The  water  course  filled  with 

water. 

24.  The  canal  they  filled  with  water. 

25.  The  barren  land  they  irri- 

gated(?) .... 

26.  The  gardener 

27.  A secret 

28.  Who  art  thou?  the  garden 

29.  Enki  to  the  gardener 

broken  away. 

34 

35.  In  E-baraguldu  he  stood. 

36.  In  E-rabgaran  he  stood. 

His  seat  he  took. 

37.  Enki  beheld  him. 

A scepter  in  his  hand  he 
grasped. 


1 A title  of  Girra,  god  of  the  flocks,  and  interpreted  by  sa  si-ma-ni,  CT.  24,  42,  95.  The 
ideogram  is  usually  rendered  by  summanu,  a nose  cord  for  leading  oxen  (also  men,  as  in  Senh 
Taylor  inscr.  V 74).  simanu  and  summanu  are  obviously  connected  so  that  Girra  is  thus  the 
god  who  leads  the  oxen.  (My  note  in  SBP.  66  n.  1 is  false.)  This  title  is  applied  to  Adad  in 
SBH.  120,  21  and  49,  8,  where  the  phrase  markas  matim  seems  to  translate  the  ideogram.  An 
unpublished  text  from  Er.ch  employs  markasu  as  a synonym  of  massu,  “leader.”  In  CT.  24,  7,  19 
the  ideogram  tug-su-nun-tug-tud  designates  apparently  Ninurasa  son  of  Anu,  and  recurs  in  24,34,2. 

2 a-si-si  occurs  also  in  SBP.  330,  16  a-ni  mi-ni-in-si  and  perhaps  also  in  Bab.  Liturgies  209 
a-mu-ni-in-si-es. 

3 We  expect  de,  i.  e.,  a-be-in-de  = sakil  sa  ikli,  but  the  sign  is  not  de. 

4 Read  gu-gal  = piristu,  Voc.  Hittite,  Berlin  7478  11  28. 

5 The  sign  is  imperfectly  made. 

6 Cf.  igi-sig  = amaru,  Br.  9323;  RA.  10,  74,  29,  and  the  name  of  the  deity  igi-sig-sig,  CT 
24,  3,  25;  Zimmern,  Rt.  No.  27,  8. 


8o 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


38.  den-ki-ge  dT  ag-tug-ra  gu-im-ma- 

an-gub 

39.  e-na  al-de-de-e  gdl-kid  gdl-kid 

40.  a-ba  me-en  \ a-e  me-en 

41 . md-e  nu-gis-sar  gul-si  gis-ma1 . . . 

42.  X-dingir-su  ga-mu-r a-ab-sig 

43.  d Tag-tug  sag-gul-la-ni-ta  e-e  gal- 

ba-an-kid 

44.  den-ki-ge  dT ag-tug-ra  sal-ni-dim 

45.  gul-ds  gar-ra-na  ba-na-ab-sum- 

mu 

46.  e-bar a-gu-ul-di'i-ba  ba-na-ab-sum- 

mu 

47.  e-rab-ga-ra-an-ba  ba-na-ab-sum- 

mu 

48.  d Tag-tug  sal-ni-dim  gub-mu-na- 

ab-{i  su-mu-na-sig-gi 


38.  Enki  for  Tagtug  waited 

39.  in  his  temple  he  cried,  “Open 

the  door,  open  the  door. 

40.  Who  is  it  that  thou  art?” 

41.  “I  am  a gardener  joyful ” 

42 I will  cause  to  be  given 

unto  thee. 

43.  The  divine  Tagtug  with  glad 

heart  opened  the  temple’s 
door. 

44.  Enki  unto  the  divine  Tagtug 

revealed  secrets. 

45.  Mis he  gave  unto  him 

joyously. 

46.  In  E-baraguldu  he  gave  unto 

him. 

47.  In  Erabgaran  he  gave  unto  him. 

48.  The  divine  Tagtug  was  con- 

fided ; the  left  hand  he  raised ; 
the  (right)  hand  he  composed. 


Reverse  1 1 

Here  about  six  lines  are  obliterated. 


8.  [u im-ma-\an-ma 

9.  [u im-ma-\an-md 

10.  [u im-ma-}  an-md 

11.  [u im-]  ma-an-ma 

1 2.  \ii I 

13-  [» 1 

14.  11  [ ] im-ma-an-ma 


15.  den-ki-ge  ma-ra  im-da-lal-e-ne 

im-da-lal-e-ne 

16.  sukkal-a-ni  dingir-guda-ne  gii- 

mu-na-de-e 


8.  [The  plant ] grew. 

9.  [The  plant ] grew. 

10.  [The  plant ] grew. 

1 1 . [The  plant ] grew. 

12.  [The  plant ] grew. 

13.  [The  plant ] grew. 

14.  The  plant grew. 

13.  “Enki,  for  me  they  are  reck- 
oned, they  are  reckoned.” 

16.  Her  herald  the  divine  anointed 
ones  called. 


gis-ma  is  the  ordinary  ideogram  for  titlu,  fig. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


8l 


1 7.  u ma-e  nam-bi  li-be-sa 

18.  a-na-am  be-e  a-na-am  be-e 

19.  sukkal-a-ni  dingir-guda-ne  mu- 

na-ni-gi-gi 

20.  [lugal]-mu  u-gisl  mu-na-ab-bi 

2 1 . mu-na2-kud-de  ba-kur-e 

22.  lu gal-mu  u-gurun  mu-na-ab-bi 

23.  mu-na-sir-ri  ba-kur-e 

24.  lugal-mu  u- mu 

25.  mu-na-kud-de  ba 

26.  lugal-mu  u-a-gug  mu 

27.  mu-na-sir-ri  ba-kur-e 

28.  [lugal-mu]  u?-tu-tu  mu 

29.  [ mu-na-kud-de ] ba 

30.  [ lugal-mu  u ] mu 

31.  [mu-na-sir-ri  ba 

32.  [lugal-mu  u mu 

33.  [mu-na-kud-de]  ba 

34.  [lugal-mu  u]-  am-ga-ru  mu-na- 

ab-teg 

33.  [mu-na-sir-]ri  ba-kur-e 

36 u nam-bi  be-in-tar  sab- 

ha  ba-ni-in-di 


17.  As  for  the  plants,  their  fates  I 

have  determined  forever. 

18.  Something  it  is;  something  it  is. 

19.  Her  herald  caused  the  divine 

anointed  ones  to  return  unto 
her. 

20.  My  king  as  to  the  woody  plants 

she  commanded: 

21.  “ He  shall  cut  off;  he  shall  eat.” 

22.  My  king  as  to  the  fruit  bearing 

plants,  she  commanded: 

23.  “ He  shall  pluck;  he  shall  eat.” 

24.  My  king  as  to  the plants, 

she  commanded : 

25.  ‘‘He  shall  cut  off;  he  shall 

eat.” 

26.  My  king  as  to  the  prickly 

plants,  she  commanded: 

27.  ‘‘He  shall  pluck;  he  shall  eat.” 

i 28.  My  king  as  to  the  plants 

she  commanded: 

29.  “[He  shall  cut  off;]  he  shall 

eat.” 

30.  [My  king  as  to  the  plants ] 

she  commanded : 

31.  “[He  shall  pluck;  he  shall 

eat].” 

32.  [My  king  as  to  the  plants 

she  commanded]: 

33.  “[He  shall  cut  off;  he  shall 

eat.]” 

34.  [My  king]  the  cassia  plant  ap- 

proached. 

35.  He  plucked;  he  ate. 

36 the  plant,  its  fate  she  had 

determined;  therein  she  came 
upon  it.3 


1 This  term  appears  to  refer  to  exogenous  plants  whose  fruits  were  used  for  food. 

2 na  in  the  verbal  forms  of  lines  21-33  has  probably  a locative  force,  “therefrom.” 

3 For  the  grammatical  elucidation  of  this  passage  see  PSBA.  1914,  191,  note  8. 


82 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


37.  dnin-gar-sag-ga-ge  mu  den-ki 

nam-erim  ba-an-kud 

38.  i-de  na-am-ti-la  en-na  ba-dig-gi-a 

i-de-ba-ra-an-bar-ri-en 

39.  d a-nun-na-ge-ne  sagar-ta  im-mi- 

in-dur-dur-ru-ne-es 

40.  gus-a  den-lil-ra  mu-na-ra-ab-bi 

41.  ma-e  dnin-gar-sag-ga  mu-e-si-du- 

mu-un  a-na-dm  nig-ba-mu 

42.  deu-hl  tad  gus-a  mu-na-ni-ib- 

43.  \a-e  dnin-gar-sag-ga  mu-e-du-mu- 

un-nam 

44.  uru-ma  2 gis-mal 1 ga-ri-du  mu-{u 

ge-pad-di 

45.  elim?  sag-ni  as-am2  im-ma-an- 

pes-pes3 

46.  [gir?]-ni  as-am  im-ma-an-bur- 

bur 

47.  igi-ni  as-am  gib'd -be -in- gar 


37.  Ninharsag  in  the  name  of  Enki 

uttered  a curse. 

38.  “The  face  of  life  until  he  dies 

not  shall  he  see.”4 

39.  The  Anunnaki  in  the  dust  sat 

down  (to  weep).5 

40.  Angrily  unto  Enlil  she  spoke. 

41.  “I  Ninharsag  begat  thee  chil- 

dren and  what  is  my  re- 
ward?”6 

42.  Enlil  the  begetter  angrily  re- 

plied ; 

43.  T hou  oh  Ninharsag  hast  be- 

gotten children,  (therefore) 

44.  “In  my  city  two  creatures  I 

will  make  for  thee,”  shall  thy 
name  be  called. 

45.  The  renowned — his  head  as  a 

prototype  she  had  moulded. 

46.  His  foot  as  a prototype  she  had 

designed. 

47.  His  eyes  as  a prototype  she  had 

made  luminous. 


1 In  the  legend  of  creation  DT.  41  line  9,  Ninigiazag,  i.  e.,  Ea,  creates  two  f u-ba-[re\.  This 
restoration  is  plausible  but  uncertain.  “Two  small  creatures”  is  the  version  generally  given 
for  this  line,  gis-mal  would  be  rendered  perhaps  by  siknatu,  “creature.” 

2 Literally  mahrii,  restii,  “first.” 

3 pes,  "to  sculpture,”  pa$d}ii,  pa$adu.  Both  verbs  are  doubtful  but  for  pasiidu  compare 
Messersciimidt,  KTA.  18,  7,  kisir  lade  ina  aggullat  eri  lu-pi-si-id,  “the  living  rock  with  bronze 
axes  I hewed.”  Note  also  pel  = purkullu,  sculptor,  and  passuru,  plate. 

4 That  is  freedom  from  disease  he  shall  no  longer  have. 

5 A similar  passage  occurs  in  the  Babylonian  version,  Epic  oj  Gilgamish  XI  125,  where  “the 
gods  who  are  the  Anunnaki”  weep  over  mankind  with  Ishtar  who  had  begotten  men.  The 
text  has  ildni  su-ut  A-nun-na-ki . For  su-ut  in  the  sense  of  id  est,  “that  is,”  see  CT.  17,  42,  13, 
dNintud  su-ut  dMag,  “Nintud,  that  is  Mah.” 

6 With  this  passage  compare  Genesis  6,  6:  “And  Jahweh  repented  that  he  had  made  man 
on  the  earth  and  he  was  vexed  in  his  heart.”  See  also  on  the  idea  of  God’s  expressing  regret 
for  what  he  had  done  in  Hebrew,  Skinner,  Genesis  1 5 1 . 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


83 


6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

1 1 

12 
■3 
•4 

15 

16 

■7 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 


Reverse  III 


About  five  lines  are  broken  away. 


ne  en  Jen-HI 

ne  en-{i 

. . .su  mu-du-ne  en  dingir 

su  mu-du-ne  en 1 

? ? ni-me-a  \ i(?)mu-mu  ? ? mu 

dnin-gar-sag-ga-ge  ? im- 


...  .teg  ba-an- . . . 
d nin-gar-sag-dg-ge  e ? kas-im-ma- 
an- 

den-lil su-ga-ni  ba-an-tub- 

bi-es 

li-im-ra  -an-ag-es 
nam-im-ma-an-tar-es 
su-li  im-ra-an-bur-ru-us 

dnin-gar-sag-ga-ge la-na 

ba-ni-in-tub 
ses-mu  a-na-fu  a-ra-gig 

utul-?-mu  ma-gig 

dabu2  im-ma-ra-an-tu-ud 

ses-mu  a-na-{u  a-ra-gig 

u-  tul-mu  ma-gig 

dnin-tul-la 3 im-ma-ra-an-tu-ud 


6  the  lord  Enlil 

7  the  lord 

8.  To they  went,  the  lord, 

god 

9.  To  ... they  went,  the  lord  of 


the  gods 

10  

11  

12.  Ninharsag.  . . . 
>3 


•4 

•5 

16 

'7 

18 


Ninharsag 


•9 

20 

2 1 

22 

23 


Of  Enlil,  in  his..  . they  re- 
posed. 


Fates  they  declared. 

Destiny  they  fixed. 

Ninharsag  in  her reposed. 


24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 


“My  brother  what  of  thee  is 
ill?” 

“My  pastures  are  distressed.” 
“Abu  I have  created  for  thee.” 
“ My  brother  what  of  thee  is  ill?” 
“My  flocks  are  distressed.” 
“The  queen  of  the  flocks  1 have 
created  for  thee.” 


1 Read  dingir-ri-ne-ge(?) . 

2 For  Abu  or  Tammuz  as  a patron  of  pastures  and  flocks  see  Tammu{  and  Ishtar,  p.  54  n.  5, 
162  and  8.  In  line  41  below  his  protection  over  vegetation  is  emphasized.  Since  the  ideo- 
gram Cl  p=f  in  line  25  is  followed  by  a broken  sign  the  whole  may  possibly  be  an  unknown 
group  of  signs  for  re’itu,  pasture. 

3 Nintulla  also  in  CT.  24,  26,  1 13,  where  she  is  the  consort  of  Negun. 


84 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


30.  ses-mu  a-na-{it  a-ra-\ii  KA  mu 

ma-gig 

31.  dNin-KA  u-tud  im-ma-ra-an-tu- 

ud 

32.  ses-mu  a-na-{u  a-ra-gig  ka  mu 

ma-gig 

33.  dnin-ka-si1  im-ma-ra-an-tu-ud 


34.  ses-mu  a-na-{u  a-ra-gig  [.  . . .mu 

ma-gig] 

35.  dna-{i 2 im-ma3 4-ra-[an-tu-ud] 

36.  ses-mu  a-na-fu  a-ra-gig  da-[{i-mu 

ma-gig] 

37.  d Da-{i-ma-a  im-ma-ra-[an-tu-ud ] 

38.  ses-mu  a-na-{ii  a-ra-gig  til-[mu 

ma-gig] 

39.  dnin-tili  im-ma-ra-an-[tu-ud] 

40.  ses-mu  a-na-{u  a-ra-gig  me-mu 

[ma-gig] 

41.  den-sag-me  im-ma-ra-an-[tu-ud] 


42.  tul-tul-la-ba5  tu-ne-en-na-ds  gar- 

ra-[ne-en-na-ds] 

43.  dab-u  lugal  u ge-a 

44.  dnin-tul-la  en  md-gan-na  ge-a 


30.  “ My  brother  what  of  thee  is 

ill?”  “ My  ....  is  ill.” 

31.  “ Nin-KA-u-tud  I have  created 

for  thee.” 

32.  “My  brother  what  of  thee  is 

ill?”  “My  mouth  is  dis- 
tressed.” 

33.  “The  queen  who  fills  the  mouth 

(with  wine)  1 have  created  for 
thee.” 

34.  “ Mv  brother  what  of  thee  is 

ill?”  “ My  ....  is  ill.” 

35.  “The  goddess  Na^i  1 have 

created  for  thee.” 

36.  “ My  brother  what  of  thee  is 

ill?  ” “ Mv  ....  is  ill.” 

37.  “The  goddess  Dazima  1 have 

created  for  thee.” 

38.  “ Mv  brother  what  of  thee  is 

ill?”  “ My  health  is  ill." 

39.  “The  queen  of  life  1 have 

created  for  thee.” 

40.  “ My  brother  what  of  thee  is 

ill?”  “My  understanding  is 
distressed.” 

41.  “The  Lord  who  renders  the 

understanding  good  1 have 
created  for  thee.” 

42.  Since  grandly  were  they  born, 

(grandly)  they  do,6 

43.  Abu  lord  of  vegetation  let  be. 

44.  Nintulla  lord7  of  Magan  let  be. 


1 Ninkasi  is  a title  of  Gestinana,  the  vine  goddess. 

2 See  also  CT.  24,  48,  10;  a handmaid  of  Sin. 

3 Text  NE' 

4 Probably  goddess  of  femininity.  In  line  48  she  is  connected  with  the  month  (Hi)  and  in 
III  R.  66  Rev.  4 she  follows  ilua-a-i-tu,  “ Father  of  the  month?” 

5 The  text  has  la-la;  cf.  Sum.  Gr.  §43  and  p.  248  tul.  2. 

6 The  restoration  is  uncertain.  Cf.  Sum.  Gr.  §2  1 1 for  emphatic  en-na. 

7 Sic!  Here  a male  divinity? 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


85 


45.  dnin-KA-u-tud  dnin-a-^u  ga-ba- 


45.  May  Nin-KA-u-tud  Ninazu  pos- 
sess.2 


an-tuk-tuk 

46.  dnin-ka-si  nig-sag-si  ge-a 


46.  May  Ninkasi  be  she  that  fills 
the  heart. 


47.  dna-{i  u-mu-un-dar-a  ga-ba-an- 


47.  May  Nazi  the  lord  of 
possess.3 


tuk-tuk 


48.  May  Dazima possess. 


possess. 


tuk-tuk 

49.  dnin-[til\  nin-iti-e  ge-a 


49.  May  Nintil  be  the  mistress  of 
the  month. 


50.  [d en-sag-me]  en  Dilmun-na  ge-a 


50.  May  Ensagme  be  lord  of  Dil- 
mun. 


5 1 .  {ag-sal 1 


51.  Praise! 


Note  on  Obverse  111,  11 


The  two  watchmen  correspond  to  the  boatman  of  Uta- 
napistim  in  the  Gilgamish  Epic  story.  In  that  legend  we 
have  considerable  warrant  for  supposing  that  on  the  ship 
Utanapistim  really  had  two  boatmen  also,  for  there  is  great 
confusion  regarding  the  name  of  the  boatman.  In  Col.  X 
his  name  occurs  six  times  as  Ur-Nimin4  and  in  the  same  manner 
seven  times  in  Col.  XI.  Since  Nimin  or  “forty,”  is  the  sacred 
number  for  the  god  Ea,  this  name  should  probably  be  ren- 
dered Ur-Ea.  On  the  other  hand,  the  same  name  occurs  twice 
in  Col.  XI  as  Ur-Ninnu,  where  Ninnu  or  “fifty,”  is  the 
sacred  number  of  Enlil.  In  the  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental 
Society,  Vol.  23,  48-50,  the  author  concluded  that  the  original 

1 Cf.  Historical  and.  Religious  Texts,  BE.  XXXI,  p.  18. 

2 Uncertain.  Ninazu,  “Lord  of  healing,”  is  an  epithet  of  Nergal.  I understand  the  line  to 
mean,  "May  N.  have  Ninazu’s  skill.” 

3 Cf.  note  2. 

4 Nimin,  written  with  four  heads,  is  the  sacred  number  of  the  god  Ea.  By  confusion  this 
sign  came  to  mean  sanabi  (4/6)  which  in  No.  4604  (pt.  2)  actually  means  Ea.  Dhorme 
seems  to  be  responsible  for  the  reading  Ur-Shanabi,  which  Ungnad  and  Rogers  have  adopted. 
Thureau-Dangin  explained  the  origin  of  sanabi,  see  OLZ.  1909,  383  and  Sum.  Gr.  p.  121. 


86 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


name  was  Ur-Enlil  or  Ur-Ninnu;  but  in  XI  95  this  same 
boatman  is  named  Pu-^u-ur-iluKurgal,  which  I take  to  be  a 
Semitic  view  of  the  meaning  of  the  Sumerian  name  Ur-Enlil. 
If  this  be  true  then  we  have  only  one  boatman  in  this  story. 
If,  however,  Pu{ur-iluKurgal  represents  originally  another  per- 
son then  this  story  also  mentioned  two  boatmen.  In  favor 
of  regarding  Pu{ur-ihlKurgal  as  identical  with  Ur-Enlil  is  first 
of  all  the  fact  that  iluKur-gal  in  this  poem,  which  was  com- 
posed in  the  period  of  the  first  Babylonian  dynasty,  obviously 
refers  to  Enlil;  see  for  this  meaning  of  kur-gal,  SBP.  220,  1; 
280,  13;  IV  Raw.  23  A 29.  The  reading  Pu{urJluAmurrul 
is  certainly  false,  for  kur-gal  became  a title  of  the  western  Adad 
or  iluAmurru,  only  in  the  late  period;  see  Clay,  BE.  X 7 ff, 
and  Tallquist,  Namenbuch  233.  Even  here  kur-gal  probably 
refers  to  Enlil  in  most  cases.  Pu{urJluKurgal,  or  Pii{ur-ilu Enlil, 
means,  “T  he  secret  of  Enlil,”  a name  the  Semites  may  have 
devised  to  replace  Ur-Enlil,  since  by  the  craft  of  Ea,  the  secret 
plan  of  Enlil  was  revealed  to  Uta-napistim.  Then  again  the 
Sumerian  Ur  may  possibly  have  the  meaning  pu{ru,  “secret.” 
Note  that  the  Sumerian  for  pu%ru  is  gi-ra,  CT.  12,  2B  15.  It 
is  possible  that  UR  also  had  a value  gir.  Both  UR  and  NIT  AH 
have  the  meaning  ardu,  “male,”  and  NIT  AH  has  the  value 
gir  as  is  proven  by  iluN IT AH-ra  = gi-ra,  in  Messerschmidt, 
KTA.  26,  12.  Also  gir-ra  = gasru,  “strong,”  IV  R.  9A  36,  a 
title  of  the  moon-god  and  gir-gir-ni  = mugdasru,  “the  power- 
ful,” IV  R.  21  B rev.,  14;  gir-ra  glossed  ga-as-ru,  K.  69,  obv. 
6 = SBH.  19,  42.  But  the  ordinary  meaning  of  both  NITAH 
and  UR  is,  “virile,  strong,  manly,”  hence  UR  may  well  have 
the  value  gir.  Supposing  this  to  be  true  this  sign  would  readily 

'So  Ungnad,  Altorientalische  Texle  und  Bilder  52,  and  he  is  erroneously  followed  by 
Rogers,  Cuneiform  Parallels  94. 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — SUMERIAN  EPIC  OF  PARADISE 


8? 


be  used  for  writing  the  word  gira(  = pu%ru)  also.  Pu-^u-ur- 
iluKurgal,  may  be  a Semitic  translation  of  Ur-iluKurgal,  or  Ur- 
iluEnlil.  Any  of  these  theories  may  account  for  the  various 
forms  of  this  name  and  we  have  probably  to  assume  but  one 
boatman  in  the  Babylonian  account.  Nevertheless  the  sug- 
gestion of  two  names  which  may  have  been  confused  is  possible 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Nippurian  version  has  two  pilots 
or  watchmen. 


FRAGMENT  OF  A LEGEND  CONCERNING 
ZI-UD-SUD-DU,  HERO  OF  THE  FLOOD 


This  single  column  tablet  (No.  4611)  probably  belongs  to 
still  another  epic  on  the  Flood  and  the  Fall  of  Man,  which  in 
this  case  was  redacted  on  a series  of  small  tablets.  The  portion 
here  preserved  consists  of  twenty-one  consecutive  lines  from  the 
end  of  the  obverse  and  top  of  the  reverse  of  a tablet  now  num- 
bered 4611  in  the  University  Museum  Collection.  In  these 
lines  a divinity  which  is  almost  certainly  the  mother  goddess 
Nintud  instructs  the  survivor  of  the  Flood  in  religious  and 
political  matters.  The  same  situation  occurs  in  both  the  Epics 
which  have  been  already  published  from  the  Museum  Collec- 
tion. After  the  Flood  Nintud  begins  an  address  to  the  royal 
survivors  at  the  end  of  Col.  1 1 1 in  the  Epic  of  the  Fall  of  Man 
(No.  4561).  The  hero  is  there  called  Tagtug.  This  address 
is  almost  wholly  lost  on  that  tablet,  but  the  succeeding  address 
to  Tagtug  by  Enki  and  also  another  by  the  mother  goddess 
have  been  preserved  there.  The  Epic  of  Creation  and  the 
Flood  (No.  10673)  'n  Fob  IV  also  contains  an  address  to  this 
hero  who  there  bears  the  same  name  as  in  fragment  No.  4611. 
Here  Nintud1  warns  her  protege  concerning  the  catastrophe 
and  provides  for  his  escape  in  a ship  precisely  as  in  the  Epic 
of  the  Fall.  But  the  fragmentary  lines  at  the  end  of  the 
sixth  column  of  the  Epic  of  Creation  and  the  Flood  (No. 
10673)  have  led  us  to  infer  that  according  to  this  version 
Zi-ud-sud-du  (or  Zi-ud-gid-du)  was  translated  to  a blessed 


1 This  divinity  is  most  certainly  the  subject  of  the  address  in  No.  10673. 


(88) 


STEPHEN  LANGDON — FRAGMENT  CONCERNING  ZI-UD-SUD-DU 


89 


land  or  isle.  On  the  contrary,  the  Epic  of  the  Fall  makes 
him  (Tagtug)  a gardener  and  like  the  Biblical  account  of 
Noah  he  continues  his  life  among  men. 

From  the  fragment  4611  it  is  obvious  that  this  third 
version  held  the  same  view  of  the  survivor  of  the  Flood. 
Zi-ud-sud-du  continues  his  earthly  career  and  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  gods  teaches  men  the  proper  worship  of  the  gods 
and  establishes  justice  and  mercy  among  men.  We  shall  with 
further  investigation  of  the  Nippur  Collection  recover  other 
portions  of  this  legend  and  the  instructions  revealed  to  the 
hero  of  the  Flood  for  the  regulation  of  human  society.  We 
may  also  expect  sooner  or  later  to  recover  portions  of  these 
post-diluvian  instructions  and  revelations  which  correspond 
to  those  delivered  to  Noah  in  both  the  J1  and  P2  documents. 

The  information  derived  from  fragment  461  1 throws  doubt 
upon  our  interpretation  of  the  last  lines  of  No.  10673,  in  which 
Zi-ud-sud-du  is  supposed  to  have  been  translated  from  among 
men.3  This  assumption  was  based  more  upon  the  Babylonian 
statements  concerning  Utanapishtim  and  those  of  Berossus 
concerning  Xisuthrus  than  upon  anything  in  the  text  of  No. 
10673.  Nevertheless  the  fragmentary  lines  do  point  to  this 
conclusion  and  we  must  assume  that  the  Sumerians  held  con- 
flicting views  about  the  post-diluvian  history  of  Zi-ud-sud-du 
or  Tagtug.  They  also  applied  two  epithets  to  this  hero  and 
the  fragment  which  is  edited  on  the  following  page  shows  that 
Zi-ud-sud-du  and  Tag-tug  denote  the  same  person. 


1 Genesis,  8,  i 5-22. 

2 Genesis,  9,  1 — 1 7. 

3 See  above,  p.  15,  and  Poebel,  Creation  and  Deluge,  p.  61. 


9° 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


461  I 

Obverse 


1 ga- 

2.  1 i-ud-sud-du 1 enirn  ga-[ra-ab 

dug-dug ] 

3.  na-ri-ga-mu 2 su-{i-de  [ga-mu- 

nariga] 

4.  dug-dug-ga  mu-na-ab-te(g) 


1 

2.  Oh  Zi-udsuddu  a command 

“[I  will  speak  to  thee]3 

3.  Mv  purification  faithfully  [will 

I  accomplish}.” 

4.  Words  to  him  she  spoke 


Reverse 


TUD  na-an-ga{  {ag  (?)  e? 


2  na-an-ga{-ga{  { ag  ingar  e- 

[gai-gatf] 

3  e-gal  na-an-gai-gai  {ag.. 

su{?)  ur(?) 

4.  sag-kur-ra 4 kur-bi-es-sa  e- 

5.  gain  ki-nu-{u-a-ni  sa-u-um . . . 

6.  dumu-mu  ki  d babbar  e-a 

7.  a gu-mu-ra-an-de-e  igi-{u-su  ge 

8.  e-nu-tuk  e-a-ni  tul-la-ba 

9.  uru-nu-tuk  uru-ni  tul-la-ba 

10.  la-ba-da-dug-li  e-la-li? 

11.  \dumu-\mu  ki  dbabbar-e-[a\ 

12 na-an-ni 


1.  In not  shall  be  sacri- 

ficed ; beside  the 

2.  In  . not  shall  be  sacrificed; 

beside  the  brick  wall  shalt 
thou  [sacrifice] 

3.  In.  . .of  the  palace  not  shall  be 

sacrificed;  beside  the 

[shalt  thou  sacrifice ] 

4.  The  slave  from  a strange  land, 

to  his  land  thou  shalt  [cause 
to  return] 

5.  Him  that  knows  no  place  (home) 

shalt  thou  cause  to  [ ] 

6.  My  son  where  the  sun  goes  up, 

7.  Shall  he  be  thy  water  libator, 

before  thee ....  shall  he 

8.  Of  him  that  has  no  house,  his 

house  enlarge. 

9.  Of  him  that  has  no  city,  his 

city  enlarge. 

10.  Him  that  is  not  happy,  with 
joy  [enthuse]. 

1 1 . My  [son]  where  the  sun  goes  up, 
12 


1 In  view  of  this  reading  and  of  {i-sud-da  = ut-na-pi s-le,  CT.  18,  30  a 9,  it  is  probable  that  the 
sign  BU  in  Ni.  10673  Obv.  Ill  20,  Rev.  IV  2,  V 7 has  the  value  sad  and  that  the  vowel  u at  the 
end  is  due  to  harmony. 

2 See  also  Ni.  10673  Rev.  IV  5 and  na-ri-mu,  Ni.  4561  Obv.  Ill  41. 

3 Restored  from  Ni.  10673  Rev-  IV  4,  and  4561  Obv.  Ill  42. 

4 Cf  NIT/tHXKUR  =ardu. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATES 


PLATE 

I,  II Light  brown  tablet.  Baked.  Built  up  from  three  fragments. 

Nearly  complete.  Three  columns  on  obverse,  and  three  on 
reverse.  Measurements  in  centimeters,  19. 7X13.6X3. 
Sumerian  epic  of  Paradise,  the  Flood  and  the  Fall  of  Man. 
C.B.S.  4361.  Period  of  the  Isin  Dynasty. 

Ill,  IV Light  brown  tablet.  Unbaked.  Large  fragment  from  right 

edge  of  a three  column  tablet  containing  a Semitic  poem  on 
the  creation  of  mankind.  Formerly  published  by  Dr.  T.  G. 
Pinches,  Cuneiform  Tablets  of  the  British  Museum , Vol.  VI., 
pi.  6.  Measurements  in  centimeters,  14X13X2,5.  Bu. 
91-5-9,  269;  in  the  British  Museum.  Period  of  First  Baby- 
lonian Dynasty.  See  page  25. 

' IV Slate-colored  fragment  from  right  edge  of  a baked  tablet  belong- 

ing to  the  Asurbanipal  Library.  Not  more  than  half  the 
column  is  preserved  in  width  and  only  a slight  portion  of  the 
column  in  length.  The  text  belongs  to  the  Assyrian  redaction 
of  the  Eridu  version  of  the  Fall  of  Man  and  is  a variant  of 
part  of  the  obverse  of  a large  tablet  found  at  Amarna,  which 
contains  the  central  portion  of  the  Canaanitish  Version. 
See  Knudtzon,  Die  El-Amarna  Tafeln,  No.  356.  K.  8743; 
in  the  British  Museum.  See  page  42. 

IV  A Light  brown.  Baked.  End  of  obverse  and  top  of  reverse  of 

a single  column  tablet.  Measurements  in  centimeters, 
7X5. 1X2. 5.  C.B.S.  4611.  See  page  90. 


91 


INDEX 


Abel,  patron  of  flocks,  52;  corre- 
sponds to  Abu  in  Sumerian. 

Abu  ( ilu ),  god  of  vegetation  and 
flocks,  52;  83,  26;  88,  43. 

Adam,  in  Hebrew  version  a sage, 
57.  Not  philologically  con- 
nected with  Adapa,  64  n.  1. 

Adapa,  22  n.  4.  Story  of,  in  Eridu 
version,  38  ff.  Fisherman,  41 
n.  2.  Rejects  immortality,  45. 
Brings  disease  upon  mankind, 
46;  47;  53.  Derivation  of  name, 
64  n . 1 . 

Ahikar,  32. 

Alaparus,  Adapa,  64. 

Alorus,  63. 

Allotte  de  la  Fuye,  21  ; 25. 

Ama,  A-md,  title  of  Nintud  at 
Agade,  see  Mami. 

A melon,  64. 

Amempsinus,  65. 

Ammenon,  64. 

Ann  (ilu),  assists  in  creating  man, 
'7- 

Anunnaki  (ilu),  82,  39. 

Aos,  Greek  for  Ea,  14. 

Apolodorus,  30  n.  1 ; 33. 

Arum  (Hat),  title  of  mother  goddess 
as  creatress.  The  word  con- 
tains the  root  Ani  = banu,  “to 
build."  Sister  of  Enlil . 17  n.  3. 
Fashions  man  from  clav,  17; 
18;  19;  22.  Creates  animals 
(?), 23  n.  4.  As  a potter,  29  n.  1 . 
Belongs  to  Nippur  pantheon, 
23.  A late  title  of  Nintud, 
Ninharsag,  Mami;  not  found 


before  Isin  period  and  never 
in  n.  pra.  nin-mag  dA-ru-ru, 
KL.  23,  5.  In  a list  found  by 
Scheil  at  Sippar  she  occurs 
with  dNintud  and  dNinmag, 
Recueil  de  Travaux  (ed.  Mas- 
pero),  XVII  32.  CT.  24,  12, 
22  [dA-]ru-ru  is  one  of  the 
titles  of  Belit-i la ni , i.e.,  Nintud 
(1.  13),  Ninharsag  (1.  3).  Cf. 
24,  25,  86.  She  is  connected 
with  Adab  in  SBP.  24,  4 
[Adah- 1 bu-ra-ge  and  26,  5 she  is 
the  great  goddess  mother  of 
Adab-bu-ra-ge.  Cf.  BL.  72,  1. 

In  BL.  No.  102  she  is  connected  ' 
with  kes.  A hymn  to  Aruru, 
KL.  173  Rev.  10.  She  is  also 
the  mother  goddess  type  in 
Sippar,  PSBA.  191  1 PI.  XI  9. 

A penitential  psalm  to  Aruru 
as  nin-mag,  IV  R.  53  111  40. 
On  boundary  stones  she  has  the 
same  symbol  as  Ninharsag, 
Zimmern  in  Frank,  Bilder  34  ff. 

[ There  identified  with  the  fal- 
con but  Bab.  VI  220  identi- 
fies the  falcon  with  Nidaba.] 
For  her  symbol  see  Ninharsag. 

Assirgi  (ilu),  title  of  Ninib.  Man 
made  in  his  image,  2 1 . 

Assur,  city,  12. 

Atarhasis,  poem  of,  18.  See  Xisu- 
thrus. 

Athena,  aids  Prometheus  in  creating 
man,  30. 

Babbar  (ilu),  72,  7;  73,  19. 


(92 


INDEX 


93 


Babylonian  map  of  the  world , 1 1 . 
Berossus,  his  pre-diluvian  genealo- 
gies, 63  f. 

Boatmen,  two  boatmen,  76,1 1.  Con- 
nected with  Puzur-Enlil,  85  ff. 
Cain,  52. 

Campbell,  Colin,  35  n.  3. 

Canaanitish  transformation  of  Baby- 
lonian sources,  46  n.  2. 

Cassia,  eaten  by  Tagtug,  51;  54; 

81,  34. 

Clay,  A.  T .,  65;  86. 
Clermont-Ganneau,  36  n.  4. 

Clothing,  of  Adapa,  46;  of  Adam, 

46  n . 1 . 

Cooke,  G.  A.,  36  n.  4. 

Craig,  J . A.,  18. 

Creation  of  man  from  clay.  In 
Babylonia,  16  ff.  18.  Blood 
and  bone,  23;  blood  and  clay, 
25.  In  image  of  Ninib,  21. 
In  Greek  mythology,  29  ff. 
In  Egyptian  mythology,  34  f. 
Animal  vitality,  28.  Creation 
bi-lingual  tablet  an  incanta- 
tion, 23;  27. 

Creation  and  Flood  Epic,  published 
by  Poebel,  its  contents  and 
relation  to  the  Epic  of  Paradise, 
14  ff.  Its  relation  to  Nippurian 
theology,  27. 

Damgalnunna  {ilat),  74,  31. 

Daonus,  64. 

Da{ima  (ilu),  52;  84,  37;  85,  48. 
Delit{sch,  Friedrich,  9;  12. 
Democritus,  32. 

Dilmun,  land  and  city,  13.  Sume- 
rian Paradise,  14;  69;  70;  72; 
73;  85,  50.  Location  of,  8 ff. 
Ideograms  for,  8 n.  1 . 

Dionysus  Zagreus,  34. 


Dhorme,  18;  19;  22;  23;  26;  28; 

40;  42;  51;  66;  85. 
Ebaraguldu,  79,  18;  80,  46. 

Eden,  14. 

Enki  {ilu),  water  god,  assists  in 
creating  man,  17.  Creates 
minor  deities,  22  n.  1 . In  Eridu 
theology  he  creates  man,  23; 

26  ff.  Creates  cattle,  27.  Rules 
in  Paradise,  27  f.  As  potter, 

27  n.  1.  In  Nippur  Epic  of 
Fall,  70;  71  ; 73;  74;  75;  76; 

77;  78;  79- 
Enkidu,  19. 

Enlil  {ilu),  as  begetter  of  man,  16  f. 
Assists  Aruru,  23.  Brother  of 
Aruru,  17  n.  3;  82,  40;  83,  19. 
Enoch,  translated,  16  n.  1 ; 52. 

Ensagme  {ilu),  52;  84,  41 ; 85,  50. 
Erabgaran,  79,  19,  36;  80,  47. 
Erinna,  Greek  writer,  31. 

Eridu,  its  version  of  the  Fall,  38  ff. 

Rejects  free  will,  48. 
Euedorachus,  65. 

Parnell,  L.  R.,  31  n.  2. 

Flood,  epic  of,  15.  Its  duration  in 
various  sources,  60. 

Fraser,  Sir  James,  52. 

Four  rivers  of  Genesis  2,  p.  11. 
Garden,  in  Nippur  epic  after  the 
Flood,  14. 

Gardener,  Tagtug,  79,  26,  29;  80,  41  ; 

50.  In  Hebrew  Noah,  50  n.  1. 
Good  and  evil,  revealed  to  Adapa 
and  Adam,  44. 

Harper,  R.  F.,  5 ; 19. 

Hathor,  35. 

Hawwa,  Phoenician  serpent  goddess, 
35;  assists  as  Eve  in  creation 
of  man,  36. 

Heket,  35. 


94 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


Hesiod,  33. 

Homme!,  Frit{,  64. 

Horace,  30  n.  4;  32  n.  3. 

Hyginus,  30  n.  5. 

Immortality,  withheld  from  Adapa, 
40;  Adam,  41;  50.  Idea  of 
late,  59. 

I rad,  52. 

J document  in  Hebrew,  depends  upon 
both  Eridu  and  Nippur  systems, 
56  ff.  Secondary  J containing 
tree  of  life  and  in  its  lost  por- 
tions attributing  the  Fall  of 
man  to  revelation  by  a jealous 
God,  59.  Genealogy  in  J,  62  f. 

Jabal,  Jubal,  Tubal-Cain,  32. 

Jastrow,  Morris,  9. 

Jealousy  of  God,  43;  49;  49  n.  i. 
A late  mystic  doctrine,  56  n.  1. 
Not  in  Hebrew  J,  58.  In 
secondary  J source,  58  f. 

Jensen,  P .,  19. 

Jeremias,  Alfred,  18;  23;  24. 

Ka,  in  Egyptian  religion,  34  n,  3. 

Khnum,  34;  35. 

King,  L.  IV.,  8;  24;  25. 

Knudt{on,  38  n.  2. 

Lamech,  52  n.  6. 

Laranchae,  65.  Part  of  Isin,  66  n.  2. 

Lidsbarski,  36  n.  4. 

Lucian,  30  n.  2;  30. 

lugal-mu,  “My  king,”  76,  9;  77, 
29;  81,  20,  22,  24,  26,  28,  30, 
32,  34- 

Magic  and  divination,  revealed  to 
man,  43;  44;  48. 

Mama  [Hat),  see  Mami. 

Mami  (Hat),  title  of  mother  goddess 
as  creatress,  17  f.  Creates  man 
from  blood  and  clay,  23.  In 
great  theological  list,  CT.  24, 


13,  41=25,  96.  Same  name 
as  earlier  dMa-ma,  root  yjmal  = 
banu,  “to  build,  create.”  Mama 
does  not  occur  before  Sargon 
the  ancient,  but  the  title  is 
earlier  than  Aruru.  Without 
dingir  in  n.  pr.  at  Agade;  Gimil- 
ma-ma,  Stele  of  Manistusu, 
8,  22:  at  Ur  also  without  din- 
gir; Amar-ma-ma,  Ur-ma-ma, 
Legrain,  Les  Rois  d'Ur,  331,  7. 
Cf.  Ur-ma-mi,  Thureau-Dan- 
gin,  Recueil  de  Textes  Cbal- 
deens,  353  I 3,  but  Ur-dMa-mi, 
398  1 1 4;  Bur-dMa-mi,  DeClercq 
Catalogue,  209.  In  llammu- 
rapi  period,  UtuI-'Ma-mi,  and 
Ma-mi-sarrat,  Ranke,  Personal 
Names,  201 . SeealsoTHUREAU- 
Dangin,  Lettres  et  Controls,  63. 
Hymn  in  Semitic  to  Ma-ma, 
CT.  15,  1 f.  In  proper  names 
of  Cassite  period  d Ma-ma;  see 
Clay,  Personal  Names  of  the 
Cassite  Period,  206.  Disappears 
after  Cassite  period.  In  theo- 
logical list,  CT.  24,  13,  40  = 25, 
96.  The  title  A-ma  and  A-md 
(MAL)  is  connected  with  Ma- 
ma, and  is  the  ordinary  title 
of  the  mother  goddess  Nintud 
at  Agade.  Sargalisarri  built 
her  temple  at  Babylon  (SAK. 
225c),  in  Neo-Babylonian 
period  called  Emah  of  Ninmah, 
see  VAB.  IV,  Index.  For  this 
temple  to  A-ma  in  Babylon  see 
RTC.  118  Rev.  5.  In  n.  pr. 
dA-ma-isdagal,  Stele  Manistu- 
su, C.  XIII  24;  XIX  28.  The 
priest  of  A-ma,  ibid.  A.  XV 


INDEX 


95 


19.  Manistusu  is  sakkanak  of 
dA--ma,  RA.  9,  92,  1 1 . Urumus 
mentions  her  with  Shamash  as 
deity  in  Agade,  RA.  8,  138  Col. 
I.  Also  in  a letter  of  the 
Hammurapi  period,  CT.  29,  43, 
25+40.  [Source  unknown.]  At 
Dir,  a city  in  Asnunnak, 
mentioned  in  the  Sargon  Stone, 
dated  in  the  nth  year  of 
Sargon  of  Assyria  and  written 
in  Babylonian,  Col.  IV  27,  a 
man  is  sangu  of  llatA-md.  In 
Neo-Babylonian  period  the  title 
survives.  lluAnim  lluEnlil  u 
llatA-ma  arrassu  marrutu  li-i-ru- 
ur,  “May  Anu,  Enlil  and  Ama 
each  curse  him  with  his  (her) 
bitter  curse,”  Strassmaier, 
Cyrus,  277,  17.  The  title  has 
been  read  falsely  A-E(  = mar 
biti)  in  n.  pra.  of  the  late  period, 
Tallquist,  Neu-babylonisches 
Namenbuch,  226.  Not  to  be 
confused  with  DU MU-E  = mar 
biti.  A marble  slab  from 
Agade,  OBI  pi.  VI I Col.  V 4 has 
d A-ma  (Hiuke,  Boundary  Stones , 
220).  On  the  other  hand,  dA-E 
= mar  biti  = Nebo,  is  certain  in 
V order  asiatische  Schriftdenk- 
maler,  1 2761+3,  tlatNana  u 
tluA-E  (Kudurru  of  Nabusum 
iskun).  Cf.  ibid.  I 17  lluA-E 
kardu  mugdasru  and  Nana  is 
birat  lluNabu  in  1.  5,  hence  A- 
\L=mar  biti=  Nabu  is  certain 
from  ninth  century.  When  the 
signs  MAL  and  E are  confused 
the  rendering  must  be  settled 
by  the  context  in  the  late 


period.  In  theological  list, 
CT.  24,  13,  39  = 25,  95. 

Marduk  ( ilu ),  assists  Aruru  in 
making  man,  22.  In  Creation 
Epic,  23  f.  In  Berossus,  24. 

Martin,  Fr.,  18. 

maskim,  76,  1 1 ; 77,  3 1 . 

Megalarus,  64. 

Mehijja-el,  52. 

Meissner,  B.,  24. 

Methushalab,  52. 

Minerva,  30. 

Murray,  Sir  Gilbert,  33. 

Muss-Arnolt,  IV.,  70. 

nam,  emphatic  verbal  prefix,  76  n. 

+ 

Nannar  (ilu),  73,  10. 

ndru  marratu,  Persian  Gulf,  1 1. 

Naville,  Ed.,  35  n.  1 . 

Na{i  (ilat),  52;  84,  35,  47. 

Nebo,  god  in  Dilmun,  8. 

Ninella  (ilat),  70,  11;  71,  31. 

Ninkarrak  (ilat),  patroness  of  heal- 
ing, 48;  49. 

Ninkasi  (ilat),  52;  84,  33,  46. 

Nin-KA-utud  (ilu),  52;  84,  31,  45. 

Ninharsag  (ilat),  one  of  the  most 
ancient  and  well  known  titles 
of  the  mother  goddess  as  crea- 
tress, 16;  22;  26;  27;  74, 

32;  82,  37,  41,  43;  83,  12,  18, 
23.  In  theological  list  regarded 
among  41  names  as  the  third 
most  important,  CT.  24,  12, 
3=25,  75.  Principal  title  of 
mother  goddess  in  Kes.  As  a 
married  type  she  is  associated 
with  the  god  Sulsige,  Zimmern, 
KL.  78,  Obv.  15,  Rev.  14;  SBP. 
150,  note  5,  line  10.  Sulsige  is 
a form  of  Enlil  originally.  Her 


96 


UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM — BABYLONIAN  SECTION 


symbol  on  boundary  stones  is 
the  altar  with  oval  band  and 
occurs  beside  those  of  the  great 
trinity,  Anu,  Enlil,  Ea.  See 
Hinke,  Boundary  Stones,  p.  6, 
fig.  2,  No.  7,  etc.  Also  Deimel, 
Pantheon  Bahylonicum,  Rome, 
1914,  p.  208. 

Nin-kurra  (Hat),  77,  19,  21,  25,  28; 
78,  38. 

Nintil  (il at),  52;  84,  39;  85,  49. 

Nintud  (Hat),  one  of  principal  titles 
of  mother  goddess  as  patroness 
of  birth.  Creates  man,  16; 
17m  2;  17;  18  n.  6.  Liturgy 
to  her,  19  f.  Woman  created 
in  her  image.  Saves  mankind 
in  the  flood,  28;  serpent  deity, 
37.  In  the  Nippur  epic,  73, 
21,  23;  73,  44;  75,  1 ; 75,  5, 
8;  77,20;  78,40.  The  reading 
is  certainly  Nin tud  not  Nin/»r  as 
Deimel,  Pantheon  Bahyloni- 
cum 22  1 has  read.  I he  second 
sign  is  REC.  \ 47  tud  = band  not 
tur  = erebu,  REC.  144,  143,  56. 
See  Ham.  Code  III  35.  Also 
dnin-tu-ud,  CT.  24,  12,  13  = 
dnin-tud  24,  25,  82.  Note  also 
her  title  ummu  banitu,  “beget- 
ting mother,”  where  tud  is 
rendered  by  banitu,  Code  XLIV 
40,  and  as  dMag  she  is  ummu 
bdniti-ia,  VAB.  IV  128,  16;  as 
dNinmag  she  is  also  ummu 
bdniti-ia,  King,  Letters  and 
Inscriptions,  201,  45.  In  dnin- 
tud-ra,  Poe  bel,  Creation  Epic, 
I 3,  ra  is  either  an  emphatic 
particle  or  the  postposition  ra. 
The  forms  dnin-tud-tud-ri,  CT. 


24,  25,  81  and  dnin-tud-ri,  p. 
82,  40  and  BL.  54,  5,  probably 
contain  the  word  ri<rib=  du- 
nanu  “form,”  and  the  whole 
should  be  rendered  beltu  banit 
dunani,  “Queen,  creatress  of 
forms.”  As  a married  type  she 
is  associated  with  'Sulslge,  CT. 
24,  25,  97,  and  BL.  91,  13. 

Nintulla  (ilat),  52;  83,  29,  44. 

Nippur,  the  Nippurian  version  of 
the  Fall  of  Man,  38;  45;  49  ff. 
54  f.  Does  not  mention  immor- 
tality, 59. 

Oannes,  14  n.  4. 

Opartes,  65. 

Oppert,  Jules,  23. 

Orelli,  30  n.  2 ; 31. 

Orphic  literature,  33. 

P document  in  Hebrew,  agrees  with 
Nippur  version,  55;  61.  No 
sin  before  Flood  period,  60. 
P.’s  genealogical  list,  62  f. 

Pandora,  32. 

Patrons,  sent  to  alleviate  human 
sorrow.  In  Adapa  legend,  49; 
in  Nippur  version,  52;  in 
Hebrew,  52. 

Pinches,  T.  G.,  24  n.  7. 

Poebel,  A.,  13;  13;  27;  65;  74. 

Prometheus,  in  Greek  tradition  fash- 
ions man  from  clay,  29  f. 

Piqur-Enlil,  boatman  in  Babylo- 
nian version  of  the  Flood,  86  f. 

Radau,  H .,  19;  20. 

Rogers,  R.  IP'.,  18;  23;  85. 

Sayce,  A.  H .,  5 ; 1 2 ; 64. 

Scheil,  V.,  38;  41 . 

Serpent,  Eve  a serpent  goddess,  36. 
Sumerian  mother  goddess  who 


INDEX 


97 


creates  man  is  a serpent  deity, 
37.  Serpent  tempter,  55  f. ; 57. 
Ship,  in  the  Flood,  76,  10;  77,  30. 
simanu  = summanu,  “nose  cord,”  79 

n.  1 . 

Sophocles,  32;  32  n.  4;  33. 

Soul,  creation  of,  31 ; 34;  35. 

Strong,  A.,  39;  47. 

Suruppak,  city,  part  of  Isin,  66  n.  2. 
Tagtug,  hero  of  the  Flood,  78,  39  f. ; 
80,  38,  43,  48.  Connection 
with  Noah,  66  ff.  A gardener, 
14;  51.  Eats  the  cassia,  51. 
Brings  disease  upon  mankind, 
51;  55.  Receives  divine  title, 
5i;  55- 

Temptation,  latent  in  Nippur  ver- 
sion, 55;  58. 

T hureau-Dangin,  Fr.,  10;  27;  85. 
Toutain,  31  n.  1 . 

Tree  of  knowledge,  44;  57.  Its 
origin  in  mythology,  58.  Tree 
of  life,  58  f. 


Tu-tu  (ilu),  66  n.  2. 

Two  creatures,  made  by  Enki,  27; 

by  Ninharsag,  82,  44. 

Ungnad,  A.,  85. 

Ur-Nimin,  boatman,  85  f. 
Utanapistim,  translation  of  Zi-ud- 
(. suddu ),  15. 

Virolleaud,  Chas.,  9. 

IVeissbach,  Fr.,  22;  23;  27. 
IVinckler,  Hugo,  9;  10;  38. 
IVisdom,  revealed  to  Adapa,  39; 

to  Adam,  39;  40:44;  50. 
Xisuthrus,  translated  to  blessed 
isle,  15;  66. 

Zarpanit,  goddess  in  Dilmun,  9. 
Zimmern,  H.,  21;  23;  38;  65;  69; 
70. 

Ziudsuddu,  name  of  the  hero  of  the 
Flood  on  Poebel  tablet,  15. 
Legend  of,  p.  90. 


ABBREVIATIONS 


A | SL. 

ASKT. 

BA. 


Bah. 

BE. 

BE. 

C.B.S. 

CT. 

DP. 

KL. 

KTA. 

OLZ. 

PBS. 

PSBA. 

R.  or  Raw. 


RA. 

REC. 

SAL 

SAK. 


SBH. 
SBP. 
Sum.  Gr. 
VAB. 

ZA 


American  Journal  of  Semitic  Eanguages  and  Literatures. 
Akkadische  und  Sumerische  Keilschrifttexte,  by  Paul  Haupt. 
Beitrage  zur  Assyriologie,  ed.  Friedrich  Delitzsch  and  Paul 
Haupt. 

Babyloniaca,  ed.  Chas.  Virolleaud. 

Babylonian  Expedition  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  ed. 
H.  V.  Hilprecht. 

Babylonian  Liturgies,  bv  S.  Langdon. 

Catalogue  of  the  Babylonian  Section  of  the  University 
Museum. 

Cuneiform  Texts  in  the  British  Museum. 

Documents  Pre-sargoniques,  by  Allotte  De  La  Fuye. 
Altbabylonische  Kultlieder,  by  IE  Zimmern. 

Keilschrifttexte  aus  Assur,  by  E.  Messerschmidt. 

Orientalische  Literaturzeitung,  ed.  E.  Peiser. 

Publications  of  the  Babylonian  Section  of  the  University 
Museum. 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature. 

Cuneiform  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  begun  by  H.  C.  Raw- 
li n son , continued  by  George  Smith.  Norris  and  Pinches. 
Revue  d’Assyriologie,  ed.  v.  Schf.ii  et  Er.  Thureau-Dangin. 
Recherches  sur  l’Origine  de  I'Ecriture  Cuneiforme,  by  Fr. 
Thureau-Dangin. 

Seltene  Assyrische  Ideogramme,  by  B.  Meissner. 

Die  Sumerischen  und  Akkadischen  Konigsinschriften,  by  Fr. 
Thureau-Dangin. 

Sumerisch-Babylonische  Hymnen,  by  G.  Reisner. 

Sumerian  and  Babylonian  Psalms,  by  S.  Langdon. 

A Sumerian  Grammar  and  Chrestomathy,  by  the  same. 
Vorderasiatische  Bibliothek,  ed.  A.  Jeremias  and  H.  Winck- 
ler. 

Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriologie,  ed.  C.  Bezold. 


(98) 


AUTOGRAPH  PLATES 


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Col  . 1 


PLATE  I 


OBVERSE 

Coi.  2. 


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BABYL.  PUB.  UNIV.  MUSEUM  VOL.  X 
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REVERSE 
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BABYL.  PUB.  UNIV.  MUSEUM  VOL.  X 


PLATE  III 


2 

OBVERSE 


Col.  3 


BABYL.  PUB.  UNIV.  MUSEUM  VOL.  X 


8ABYL.  PUB.  UNIV.  MUSEUM  VOL.  X 


PLATE  IV  A 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  PLATES 


BABYL.  PUB.  UNIV.  MUSEUM.  VOL.  X 


PLATE  V 


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THE  CREATION,  FLOOD  AND  FALL  OF  MAN 


BABYL.  PUB.  UNIV.  MUSEUM.  VOL.  X 


PLATE  VI 


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REVERSE 


THE  CREATION,  FLOOD  AND  FALL  OF  MAN 


